The Trump administration is considering removing exhibits to Obama-era climate rules from the EPA museum and replacing them with shrines to the coal industry, according to a Sunday report from The Washington Post.
President Donald Trump wants to reformulate a museum recognizing the agency’s work over more than four decades, a career EPA official told WaPo. One of the changes to the obscure museum includes scraping exhibits about the Clean Power Plan and replacing them with references to the coal industry.
The museum was created during the Obama-era and includes many of former President Barack Obama’s signature efforts to fight climate change. A plaque on one of the exhibits reads: “The CPP shows the world that the United States is committed to address climate change.”
Officials at the EPA notified the Trump administration of the museum’s existence and gave White House officials a tour of the exhibits. Trump’s predecessor commissioned the museum’s construction, which was built on the shoestring budget of $300,000.
“I wanted to make sure that they knew it existed,” said Nancy Grantham, a career public affairs employee at EPA, who has toured the exhibit with at least one Trump official. “That’s just how I operate. I don’t like to be surprised, and I assume others don’t like to be, either.”
Grantham acknowledged that the climate panels could be shelved, although she stressed that no final decisions had been made. “It should be no surprise that there may be changes,” she said.
The Paris climate agreement is also prominently displayed in the museum, a penal of which notes that the “EPA is leading global efforts to address climate change.” Trump decided in June to withdraw from the non-binding agreement.
EPA officials have installed a large poster board in the museum, highlighting several aspects of the agency’s new objectives, such as its focus on cleaning up Superfund sites. It also features a picture of EPA administrator Scott Pruitt shaking hands with coal miners at a Pennsylvania mine and promises “sensible regulations for economic growth.”
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