Hazy as they may be, we are all looking into our crystal balls, trying to envision what a Donald Trump presidency will mean for the world around us. The first glimpses we have of the future – Steve Bannon at Trump's right hand, Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, Michael Flynn as National Security Advisor – project something much darker and more insular than befits a nation whose arc of history is as progressive as ours. Of course, that arc is long and there have been many setbacks and struggles along the way. A Trump presidency will test us. Since November 8, I've witnessed family and friends, allies and colleagues vacillate between moments of despair and moments of inspired energy.
At CPR, we have set out to channel that tension and turn it into something useful. Beginning tomorrow with a post from Tom McGarity, CPR Member Scholars and staff will be blogging about what to expect from the Trump administration – where we believe Trump's team will try to roll back vital public protections, create loopholes for favored industries, and undermine the slow but steady progress that marked the last eight years. Our goal is to help train a spotlight on what's at stake in their fight against public safeguards and to show in concrete terms how these attacks will impact public health, safety, and environmental integrity if they succeed.
Tragically, our effort to preview the Trump administration's attacks on our safeguards will be marked by a dark morbidity. Make no mistake, the best we can hope for are delayed public protections. But every day, every month of delay, can mean thousands of asthma attacks in the polluted urban areas candidate Trump promised to turn around. Slashing agency enforcement budgets will eliminate the deterrent effect of our laws and sow the seeds for industrial disasters that could kill workers and poison local environments. Political leaders who deny or fail to appreciate the gravity of global climate disruption will never find sustainable solutions to the droughts threatening our food supply or the massive storms pushing our infrastructure past its limits.
"Elections have consequences" was a refrain we heard many times over the last few months. In the weeks to come, we'll do our best to preview some of them. Rather than discouraging our readers, we hope these posts provide both a crucial reminder of the value of an energetic government that works on behalf of the public interest and inspiration for doing the necessary work for ensuring that past progress on regulatory safeguards will be preserved for us and for future generations.
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Matt Shudtz | November 21, 2016
Hazy as they may be, we are all looking into our crystal balls, trying to envision what a Donald Trump presidency will mean for the world around us. The first glimpses we have of the future – Steve Bannon at Trump’s right hand, Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, Michael Flynn as National Security Advisor – […]
Evan Isaacson | November 18, 2016
Last week, the Center for Progressive Reform co-hosted a symposium with the University of Maryland School of Law entitled "Halftime for the Bay TMDL." The symposium was supposed to be about what states, cities, counties, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), industry, and citizens can do to accelerate progress in the second half of the […]
Matt Shudtz | November 10, 2016
Where do we stand now that the election is over and the presidential transition is beginning? That’s a common question these days. Those of us striving in the public interest had come to expect progress, and now that expectation has been dashed. For eight years, President Obama and his team of dedicated public servants did […]
Joel A. Mintz | November 8, 2016
Today, Florida residents are voting on a number of items including Constitutional Amendment 1, misleadingly titled “Rights of Electricity Consumers Regarding Solar Energy Choice.” Although it gives the appearance of promoting solar energy, Amendment 1 is actually a deceptively worded attempt by big, investor-owned utility companies (including FPL and Duke Energy), masquerading under the banner […]
Victor Flatt | November 7, 2016
During the U.S. presidential race, much ink has been spilled on how important the election is. But one of the most important issues of all – climate change – has made little appearance in the election discourse, even though it is one of many issues on which the candidates have sharp divisions. But those divisions are […]
Mollie Rosenzweig | November 1, 2016
Last year, consumers linked Wen hair products to sudden and dramatic hair loss. The story generated a flurry of national coverage and spurred increased interest in just how closely the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates our cosmetic products. Indeed, Wen hair products are not alone in causing dangerous side effects and containing disconcerting ingredients: […]
Brian Gumm | October 31, 2016
Earlier this month, the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy published a collection of essays filled with legal and policy recommendations for the next president. Center for Progressive Reform Member Scholar Lisa Heinzerling closed out the publication with a piece on improving federal environmental policy, which includes recommendations for how the next president can […]
Alice Kaswan | October 27, 2016
It’s been a month since the D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments on the Clean Power Plan, and the nation is in wait-and-see mode. But our report, Untapped Potential: The Carbon Reductions Left Out of EPA’s Clean Power Plan, released today by the Center for Progressive Reform, shows that, even if the Plan is upheld, continued […]
Matthew Freeman | October 26, 2016
Whatever else may be said about Ken Bone, the red-sweatered citizen questioner at the second presidential debate earned an important place in the pantheon of presidential debates: He’s the only person to ask a debate question remotely related to climate change in the last eight years. As it happens, his question wasn’t all that direct, since it didn’t actually […]