Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is set to tout his environmental record and what the White House says is “America’s environmental leadership” in a speech Monday afternoon.
Trump campaigned on rolling back some of the stringent environmental proposals put forth under President Barack Obama, saying they went too far to single out industries like coal, but the administration claims the U.S. still has some of the strongest environmental protections.
While the U.S. has made drastic improvements on the quality of air and water in recent decades, Trump has reversed course on several policies proposed by the Obama administration to push for more reductions in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
Democrats and environmental advocates have harshly criticized the Trump administration for what they call a lax approach to holding polluters accountable and taking action to combat the effects of climate change. Former Environmental Protection Agency leaders from three Republican administrations even criticized the direction of the agency, saying it could be “catastrophic” to backtrack on the focus on climate change.
The Guardian first reported the speech last week, saying Trump will push back on the criticism around his environmental rollbacks as Democrats continue to focus on climate change in the 2020 presidential election.
Copyright © 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.