Two Weeks Before Harvey, Trump Slashed Standards On Federal Flood Risk Management


President Donald Trump has based his entire political career on opposing everything former President Barack Obama accomplished. From Trump’s failed attempts to destroy the Affordable Care Act, the racist birther conspiracies, and especially his outright rejection of science in the face of climate change, Trump has systematically attacked all aspects of Obama’s legacy.

One of those attacks was amplified today with the disastrous flooding in Texas from Tropical Storm Harvey.

The storm has brought an outrageous amount of flooding to the region, and the storm stalled over the area. Experts have predicted as much as forty total inches of rain by Wednesday, when the storm is expected to dissipate. It turns out that, just a few weeks back, President Trump slashed federal regulations that Obama put into place to protect people who live in areas at risk for flooding.

Writer Sarah Kendzior tweeted about Trump’s signing of an executive order on August 15, which repealed Obama’s 2015 executive order which increased federal spending and investments in areas at risk for flooding:

Read the full text of those executive orders here.

Although Trump’s executive order most likely had little impact on the destruction occurring in Texas, his gutting of standards for flood protection will surely have an adverse effect should massive flooding like this occur again.

Trump’s disdain for regulation and the environment should come as no surprise. After all, this is a man who appointed a well-known climate change denier, Scott Pruitt, as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. That agency remains remarkably understaffed, and Trump also championed the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, a move decried by scientist and world leaders alike.

Trump’s policies and actions are dangerous for the environment, not just in our country, but throughout the world. Watch a report on the flooding in Texas below:

Featured image via Flickr user Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0.