As Donald Trump was sworn in as president on Monday, David Cash resigned as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency’s New England region.
Cash is one of many federal employees who have left since Trump returned to the White House.
Trump has promised major reforms to boost fossil fuel production, relax emissions regulations and scale back other environmental measures.
Cash served at the EPA for nearly three years. He spoke with WBUR consider everything Shortly after Lisa Mullins resigned, host Lisa Mullins talked about what Trump’s policies mean for environmental protection and climate change mitigation.
Below are lightly edited highlights from their conversation.
Interview Highlights
On the reasons for his resignation:
“Well, I’m a presidential appointee. I was appointed to this role by President Biden. When the new president takes office, all of our presidential appointees resign. But that’s also something I don’t want to stay and go into.” The Trump Presidency.
“The direction he’s setting on addressing issues that I care about, and I know many of our listeners care about: protecting our environment, access to clean water, clean air, protecting ecosystems. His agenda goes against everything we know as a country. Values that are owned and promoted by communities, states, the federal government, Republican and Democratic administrations over decades.
Regarding Trump’s planned environmental executive actions, which include an announcement that “National Energy Emergency”:
“There’s no question that the energy situation in this country is in dire need of reform. We’ve been dependent on fossil fuels for a hundred years. For a hundred years, it’s been good for our country’s development – our economic development. And it is now It’s time, and it’s already time, to say goodbye to fossil fuels.
“We now know that fossil fuels cause serious public health problems at the local level. And we know that they are a major cause of climate change — climate change is disrupting communities around the world, not just in our country, and you just have to look Fly to Los Angeles [and the wildfires] Latest example. In the previous administration, we met this crisis head-on, harnessing the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit this country is famous for.
On Trump’s revocation of his so-called “Electric vehicle authorization“:
“In the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, we support electric vehicles in a variety of ways [electric vehicle] develop. He was probably talking about a regulation issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding vehicle emissions. No mandate is required to buy an electric car.
“But we’ve also tried many other ways to support the booming electric vehicle industry, such as building factories and providing infrastructure funding to state and municipal governments so that people can charge their vehicles… all of which have created huge benefits for people. benefit.
“One example is the funding we provide for electric school buses. There are about 8,700 electric school buses on the street right now. You know, I grew up riding a public school bus. I was sitting on the corner and a bus went by and it It stinks, I don’t know if it’s going to cause me health problems in the future, and, you know, there’s less and less of that stuff.
“There is one [event] I remember specifically in Nashua, New Hampshire, where children were already riding electric school buses [were] Say how much they love it. You know, it’s quiet here and it doesn’t stink. Parents are really happy not to have to worry about their children. Bus drivers like the new buses – they’re quiet. Every time I attend these events, I [hear about] Another benefit.
On whether Trump’s rollback will cause further harm to communities overburdened by pollution:
“I’m optimistic, but [that’s] It’s up to us to be vigilant. I’m optimistic because the Inflation Reduction Act and other bills in our statutes have freed up tens of billions of dollars that are already flowing to communities across the country to make the kinds of progress we need. And the rules are there. So that’s moving forward.
“But we have to be vigilant in many different ways – working with Congress, working with our state legislatures, we have to work with communities. I mean, we have to help the most underserved communities, whether it’s through communities — Foundational organizations or community development banks or community land trusts are things we should be focusing our efforts on to serve as bulwarks for the regression that we are about to see.
On whether Massachusetts can help curb the worst impacts of climate change through policies like the state’s net revenue goals Achieve zero emissions by 2050:
“Massachusetts has been a leader in this area, and I remember the early arguments [Gov. Deval] When I was there during the Patrick administration, a lot of the business groups were there [the claim]”You know, we only account for a small percentage of total emissions.” The answer is, we all have to play our part in combating climate change… We have to play our part in reducing global emissions. We must seize the opportunity for all the benefits this brings.
On whether the state can be a leader in resisting some of the environmental rollbacks under President Trump:
“Of course. I mean, it is a leader and has always been a leader. And it often open up its own path to obtain benefits -cope with environmental challenges and seize the economic, environment, society, and society brought by these opportunities equitable interests.