"What’s at Stake in Trump’s Proposed E.P.A. Cuts"

"What is at stake as Congress considers the E.P.A. budget? Far more than climate change.

The Trump administration’s proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency budget are deep and wide-ranging. It seeks to shrink spending by 31 percent, to $5.7 billion from $8.1 billion, and to eliminate a quarter of the agency’s 15,000 jobs.

The cuts are so deep that even Republican lawmakers are expected to push back. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the chairwoman of the Interior and Environment Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, pointedly reminded Mr. Trump last month that his budget request was just “the first step in a long process.”"

Hiroko Tabuchi reports for the New York Times April 10, 2017.