Today President Trump issued an executive order that shifts the current system of safeguards in the United States by creating a “two for one” formula for federal agencies. Under this new executive order agencies will have to identify two regulations for elimination for every new regulation they aim to create. Earthjustice Vice President of Policy & Legislation Martin Hayden issued the following statement on this Executive Order from President Trump that puts American communities at risk:

“Voters didn’t vote against clean air, clean water, or public health safeguards in the last election. But President Trump just issued an executive order that tries to deeply weaken the tools federal agencies use to protect our health, our environment, our workers, and our civil rights.

“Trump’s executive order is a drastic reversal of how creating our environmental and other safeguards currently works, potentially leaving our communities vulnerable to dire health and environmental problems if agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and Centers for Disease Control can’t do their jobs. The order will also spark chaos in the federal government in the months ahead as agencies work to create regulations they are legally mandated to produce by bedrock laws like the Clean Air Act.

“We’re seeing a wave of anti-regulatory attacks in early 2017 that seek to gut our system of protections in the name of a dollar. But you can’t drink money. You can’t breathe cash. Furthermore, rolling back protections hurts the bottom line for families who must shoulder the economic burden of health problems, communities who face environmental disasters in their backyards, and workers who will be doing their jobs without vital worker protections.

“Regulations in the United States are created after years of sound scientific research and democratic public engagement. They often create new jobs, and they protect our infrastructure and our families. Earthjustice urges senators in Congress to vigorously oppose this onslaught of attacks on our system of safeguards in the United States.”