Going backwards to the Bush II era overnight

Donald Trump is getting ready to hammer the EPA

Updated by Brad Plumer @bradplumer brad@vox.com Jan 23, 2017, 11:10am EST, VOX

Now that he’s president, Donald Trump is laying the groundwork to drastically reshape the Environmental Protection Agency in the weeks and months ahead.

All signs indicate that Trump will soon issue a flurry of executive orders as part of the process of weakening various air and water pollution rules and cutting agency budgets. It’s all part of his plan to dismantle President Obama’s climate policies and make life easier for America’s fossil fuel industry. The big question is how quickly Trump’s team will act — and what sorts of obstacles they’ll face from both federal courts and career staff within the EPA.

On Friday, Trump took the very first step by ordering a “freeze” on all new regulations coming out of federal agencies. This is a standard move — George W. Bush and Barack Obama issued similar orders when they took office — and it only affects rules that haven’t been finalized. (Anticipating this, the Obama administration raced to finish a bunch of environmental regulations before leaving, though it had yet to publish four energy efficiency rules that will now be put on hold.) It’s a way for Trump to hit pause while his team prepares for bolder action.

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