White House Seeks to Cut EPA Budget 31 Percent as Trump Targets Regulation

President Donald Trump's administration is proposing a 31 percent cut to the Environmental Protection Agency's budget, eliminating its climate change programs and trimming back core initiatives aimed at protecting air and water quality, according to budget documents released on Thursday.

The White House's proposed 2018 budget for the agency comes as Trump seeks to clear away regulations he claims are hobbling U.S. businesses - like oil drillers and coal miners.  The proposed cuts are a starting point in negotiations with Congress, and could be tempered.

The proposal would eliminate 3,200 EPA employees, or 19 percent of the current workforce, and effectively erase former President Barack Obama's initiatives to combat climate change by cutting funding for the agency's signature Clean Power Plan aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

It would also eliminate climate change research and international climate change programs. Together, the cuts to climate change initiatives at the agency would eliminate some $100 million in spending.

Read more at White House Seeks to Cut Epa Budget 31 Percent as Trump Targets Regulation