5th Circuit Judge Willett Poised to Decide His Own Financial Conflicts Are Fine in U.S. Chamber Lawsuit Against CFPB Credit Card Rule
The Biggest Public Lands Oil Drillers Boost CEO Pay And Shower Shareholders With Dividends; Cry Foul Over Biden Administration Improving Accountability
Leonard Leo’s Network Is RAGA’s Top Funder Once Again
Report: House Republicans Voting to Block Administration Credit Card Rule Took Nearly $8M From Pro-$41-Late Fee Industry Groups
Johnson & Johnson Boasts Big Earnings After Suing to Keep Prices High
Site Menu

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Accountable.US is calling on President-Elect Joe Biden and Congress to reverse harmful Trump administration policies that jeopardize water and ocean protections and were finalized over the last four years as favors to industry and former lobbyists for large corporations focused on maximizing profits, not protecting the environment.

As part of its Damage Control project, Accountable.US is highlighting the actions taken by the Trump administration to benefit industry, their lobbyists, and those that filled the president’s campaign coffers.

“The Trump administration sold out our environment every chance it got, and the incoming Biden administration and majorities in Congress must act to fix the damage and go further to strengthen water and ocean protections,” said Chris Saeger, spokesman for Accountable.US. “Science should dictate an administration’s rule-making, not industry’s desire to bolster its bottom line. President-elect Biden has already shown his commitment to protecting the environment by nominating leaders for key agencies who will not do the bidding of lobbyists and campaign donors, and we urge the incoming administration and Congress to act quickly.”

The Biden administration should immediately take action in the following areas that will help repeal the dangerous standards set during the past four years under Trump:

  • Restore regulations to prevent another Deepwater Horizon disaster, which the Trump administration gutted at the urging of the industry association representing drilling companies — a former client of Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. The Biden administration should reinstate offshore drilling safety regulations, including for blowout preventers and real-time monitoring, for offshore oil and gas operations, and reverse a 2020 rule reducing the financial assurances required for companies to obtain oil and gas leases in the outer continental shelf. 
  • Strengthen enforcement of air quality on the Outer Continental Shelf, which is threatened by oil, gas and sulfur operations. The Trump administration’s rule should be reserved and the Department of the Interior should consider adding regulations and restrictions on facility locations. 
  • Require cities to replace lead service lines more quickly after Trump’s EPA proposed a rule to double the amount of time allotted for replacement, which would benefit businesses that include a Trump donor. The Biden administration should also prioritize replacing contaminated lead pipes. 
  • Reverse decisions on water projects in California and North Dakota that threaten endangered fish and local environments and strengthen the original Stream Protection Rule that was nullified by an all-Republican Congress in 2017. 

Non-partisan federal watchdog Accountable.US has released full documentation for the corrupt origins of these harmful policies on its Damage Control site, which catalogs solutions to harmful Trump policies the Biden administration should pursue to make the government work for all Americans again. 

###

back to top