US President Donald Trump has announced a plan to cut the number of employees at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by two-thirds, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
Known for his skepticism regarding claims about climate change, the US president reported that he had spoken with the head of the agency, Lee Zelden, who said that he would "cut staff by about 65 percent". According to data published on the agency's official website, in 2024 it employed over 15,000 people.
This is another step by the new administration in Washington in its radical approach to the issue of combating climate change at a time when it is also trying to make drastic cuts in public spending, AFP notes.
As soon as he took office a little over a month ago, Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, as he did in his first term. This measure by the world's second-largest polluter after China threatens global efforts to combat climate change, the agency said, specifying that the decree is due to take effect in a year.
The Republican president also declared an "energy emergency" to boost oil and gas production in the United States, fulfilling a campaign promise.
Since re-entering the White House, Trump, who regularly says the energy transition "is a scam", has taken action against electric cars and wind power projects and called for a "return to plastic" in the production of single-use straws.
Most recently, he also called for the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline between Canada and the United States to be resumed. This project was first abandoned under President Barack Obama because it was considered too polluting, and then for a second time in 2021 by Joe Biden as part of his plan to combat climate change, AFP recalls.