Rep. Summer Lee: The Fight for Environmental Justice Is Far From Over
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/ March 12, 2026
Rep. Summer Lee: The Fight for Environmental Justice Is Far From Over
The Trump administration’s destructive environmental policies will cost us all. But we must not give up.
Summer Lee
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Trump and his Environmental Protection Agency have made it easier for polluters to profit off our families, our public health, and our planet, writes Representative Lee.(Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)
This article appears in the
April 2026 issue, with the headline “Fight for the Planet.”
Immediately after Donald Trump was sworn in to his second term in the nation’s highest office, he launched an aggressive rollback of critical environmental-justice protections. In just one year, his administration has eliminated the 2009 endangerment finding, the scientific and legal basis for regulating greenhouse-gas emissions; weakened pollution limits; and offered industrial polluters exemptions to the rules that were designed to protect the environment and public health. Who is Trump and his Environmental Protection Agency doing this for?
I can tell you it is not for our kids. Not for working families. Not for the communities already bearing the brunt of pollution and climate disaster.
They are doing it for the oil and gas executives who bankrolled Trump’s reelection campaign, contributing over $75 million after he promised he’d grant their policy wish list if he won. Polluting fossil-fuel companies are receiving a fast pass for project approvals while reaping tens of billions of dollars in tax breaks and other government incentives. In a gross misuse of presidential power, Trump is making sure his donors see major returns from his policies. Take Energy Transfer and its executive chairman, Kelcy Warren, for example: They’ve contributed $25 million to Trump since he took office and are benefiting from his reinstituting exports of liquefied natural gas, which will allow them to extend operations and increase profits. Occidental Petroleum, which donated $1 million to Trump’s second inauguration, is now benefiting from the administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which offered tax breaks and subsidies to energy corporations.
Trump and his officials have made it easier for polluters to profit off our families, our public health, and our planet. As they continue to gut environmental funding, offices, and programs, we will see cancer risks rise. As they repeal essential safeguards, including limits on climate pollution and other toxic air emissions, asthma cases will increase.
In western Pennsylvania, which includes the district that I represent in Congress, we’ve seen …
This deserves loud pushback.
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Rep. Summer Lee: The Fight for Environmental Justice Is Far From Over
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/ March 12, 2026
Rep. Summer Lee: The Fight for Environmental Justice Is Far From Over
The Trump administration’s destructive environmental policies will cost us all. But we must not give up.
Summer Lee
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Ad Policy
Trump and his Environmental Protection Agency have made it easier for polluters to profit off our families, our public health, and our planet, writes Representative Lee.(Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)
This article appears in the
April 2026 issue, with the headline “Fight for the Planet.”
Immediately after Donald Trump was sworn in to his second term in the nation’s highest office, he launched an aggressive rollback of critical environmental-justice protections. In just one year, his administration has eliminated the 2009 endangerment finding, the scientific and legal basis for regulating greenhouse-gas emissions; weakened pollution limits; and offered industrial polluters exemptions to the rules that were designed to protect the environment and public health. Who is Trump and his Environmental Protection Agency doing this for?
I can tell you it is not for our kids. Not for working families. Not for the communities already bearing the brunt of pollution and climate disaster.
They are doing it for the oil and gas executives who bankrolled Trump’s reelection campaign, contributing over $75 million after he promised he’d grant their policy wish list if he won. Polluting fossil-fuel companies are receiving a fast pass for project approvals while reaping tens of billions of dollars in tax breaks and other government incentives. In a gross misuse of presidential power, Trump is making sure his donors see major returns from his policies. Take Energy Transfer and its executive chairman, Kelcy Warren, for example: They’ve contributed $25 million to Trump since he took office and are benefiting from his reinstituting exports of liquefied natural gas, which will allow them to extend operations and increase profits. Occidental Petroleum, which donated $1 million to Trump’s second inauguration, is now benefiting from the administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which offered tax breaks and subsidies to energy corporations.
Trump and his officials have made it easier for polluters to profit off our families, our public health, and our planet. As they continue to gut environmental funding, offices, and programs, we will see cancer risks rise. As they repeal essential safeguards, including limits on climate pollution and other toxic air emissions, asthma cases will increase.
In western Pennsylvania, which includes the district that I represent in Congress, we’ve seen …
Rep. Summer Lee: The Fight for Environmental Justice Is Far From Over
This deserves loud pushback.
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Rep. Summer Lee: The Fight for Environmental Justice Is Far From Over
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Current Issue
Comment
/ March 12, 2026
Rep. Summer Lee: The Fight for Environmental Justice Is Far From Over
The Trump administration’s destructive environmental policies will cost us all. But we must not give up.
Summer Lee
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
Trump and his Environmental Protection Agency have made it easier for polluters to profit off our families, our public health, and our planet, writes Representative Lee.(Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)
This article appears in the
April 2026 issue, with the headline “Fight for the Planet.”
Immediately after Donald Trump was sworn in to his second term in the nation’s highest office, he launched an aggressive rollback of critical environmental-justice protections. In just one year, his administration has eliminated the 2009 endangerment finding, the scientific and legal basis for regulating greenhouse-gas emissions; weakened pollution limits; and offered industrial polluters exemptions to the rules that were designed to protect the environment and public health. Who is Trump and his Environmental Protection Agency doing this for?
I can tell you it is not for our kids. Not for working families. Not for the communities already bearing the brunt of pollution and climate disaster.
They are doing it for the oil and gas executives who bankrolled Trump’s reelection campaign, contributing over $75 million after he promised he’d grant their policy wish list if he won. Polluting fossil-fuel companies are receiving a fast pass for project approvals while reaping tens of billions of dollars in tax breaks and other government incentives. In a gross misuse of presidential power, Trump is making sure his donors see major returns from his policies. Take Energy Transfer and its executive chairman, Kelcy Warren, for example: They’ve contributed $25 million to Trump since he took office and are benefiting from his reinstituting exports of liquefied natural gas, which will allow them to extend operations and increase profits. Occidental Petroleum, which donated $1 million to Trump’s second inauguration, is now benefiting from the administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which offered tax breaks and subsidies to energy corporations.
Trump and his officials have made it easier for polluters to profit off our families, our public health, and our planet. As they continue to gut environmental funding, offices, and programs, we will see cancer risks rise. As they repeal essential safeguards, including limits on climate pollution and other toxic air emissions, asthma cases will increase.
In western Pennsylvania, which includes the district that I represent in Congress, we’ve seen …
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