The War on the EPA

Book excerpt: As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) passes the half century mark, the public is largely apathetic towards the need for environmental protections. Today’s problems are largely invisible, and to many people’s eyes, the environment looks like it’s doing just fine. The crippling smog and burning rivers of yesteryear are just a memory. In addition, Americans are repeatedly told that the EPA is hurting the economy, destroying jobs, and intruding into people’s private lives. The truth is far more complicated. The War on the EPA: America’s Endangered Environmental Protections examines the daunting hurdles facing the EPA in its critical roles in drinking water, air and water pollution, climate change, and toxic chemicals. This book takes the reader on a journey into some of today’s most pressing environmental problems: toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS, pervasive agricultural pollution, dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico, and widespread air and water pollution from use of fossil fuels. Delving into the science, politics, and human dimension of these and other problems, the book illustrates the challenges of regulation through the EPA's first fifty years, how today’s war on science is undermining the scientific foundation upon which the agency’s legitimacy rests, and why a strong U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is more important than ever before.