When he was last president, Trump gutted more than 100 environmental rules and vowed to only leave a "little bit of the EPA" left "because you can't destroy business", prompting hundreds of agency staff to leave amid a firestorm of political interference and retaliation against civil servants. An even greater exodus is expected this time, with staff fearing they are frontline targets in what could be the biggest upheaval in the agency's 50-year history.
"People are anxious and apprehensive, [and] we are preparing for the worst," said Nicole Cantello, an EPA water specialist and president of the AFGE Local 704 union, representing agency staff in the midwest.
"We've had a taste of what will happen and how we were targeted last time," she said. "By the emails and texts I'm getting, a lot of people will leave. So many things could be thrown at us that it could destroy the EPA as we know it."
This story is from the November 12, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the November 12, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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