Trump targets climate agency in early days of administration

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It's only a few days into President Donald Trump's administration, but already the new president's actions on climate policy have environmentalists worried.

This is day three, and they have ... already set up this antagonistic relationship.- Liz Purchia, former communications director for the EPA

A series of sweeping directives have been aimed at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, instituting a freeze on issuing new grants and giving new work assignments to contractors, and restricting communications with the public. 

"I think it's not a great sign of what's to come," Liz Purchia, former communications director for the EPA, told As It Happens guest host Helen Mann. "Unfortunately what we have seen in just three short days of them being in office, is they have taken just step after step of trying to hobble the agency."

The administration has said the contract freeze and other moves are temporary measures while new officials get up to speed with the way the department operates, pointing out that the new EPA head has not yet been installed.

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But Purchia said the restrictions placed on the EPA and other government agencies go beyond the usual shift in priorities that comes with a new president.

"The way that they have gone about this is just so drastic," she said. "This is day three, and they have kind of already set up this antagonistic relationship between themselves and the thousands and thousands of career staffers that work for them at the agency. It kind of shows a lack of trust and respect for the staff."

Trump has denied the existence of climate change in the past, and his attitude toward climate policy has been raising concerns among scientists and activists alike since long before the election.

In recent days the issue of climate change has emerged as an online rallying point for Trump's opponents on social media. Eyebrows were raised on the very day of his inauguration when the White House's web page on climate change suddenly disappeared, along with pages on LGBT issues, civil rights and other topics.

Then, the Twitter account for Badlands National Park drew widespread attention for tweeting a series of three facts about ocean acidification and carbon concentration in the atmosphere, a move widely interpreted as a jab at Trump.

The tweets were later deleted. The National Park Service said they had been posted by a former employee who was not supposed to have access to the account, and that the tweets were deleted when employees realized the account had been compromised — not because they had been ordered to.

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And earlier Wednesday, a report emerged that the EPA had been ordered to remove its web page on climate change. After a swift negative reaction to the news on social media, however, Trump transition official Doug Ericksen later told The Associated Press that no decisions had yet been made. 

"We're taking a look at everything on a case-by-case basis, including the web page and whether climate stuff will be taken down," he said.