Until December 2 , 1970 , there was no Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) . That happens to be the date that controversial Republican President Richard Nixon contract the executive fiat that found it . The fact that the next Republican President of the United States is set to ruin , dismantle , or at least severely weaken the EPA is deep ironic – something not lost on the former head of the bureau .

Christine Whitman , the EPA chief under George W Bush and a Republican herself , manoeuvre out that “ conservation is inherently button-down , ” adding that she “ hopes to be proven wrong by Mr Trump , but you have so many multi - millionaires from theoil industryin his cabinet . ”

talk toBBC Radio 4 , she sound out : “ I see it very worrisome that there seems to be a patronage for the science on protecting the surround . ” Whitman told reporters that she fears for the future of her grandchildren .

“ I worry awfully for the future of my family and families round the world because Mother Nature has never observed geopolitical boundary , ” she added . “ To walk away from something where you have 97 % of scientists saying this is occurring and people have an encroachment on it … it ’s gotten to the full point where we ’ve fix to seek to slow down it down if we ’re going to outlive it . ”

Whitman may be a Republican – a party known today for itsanti - environmental position – but she rarely follow company argumentation when it get to scientific treatment . In fact , it was the Bush administration ’s pressure that the EPA ease air defilement confinement back in 2003 that led to her surrender .

The former Governor of New Jersey is provably not a fan of Trump either , having compose severalop - edsexplaining why Clinton was her alternative for the forty-fifth President . Clearly , when it comes to the environs , the two will likely never see optic to eye .

The estimation that environmental protection is inherently conservative makes intuitive sense , but it ’s been a recollective clip since that applied in reality .

It ’s been well document that plenty of lawmakers – primarily Republicans , traditionally the bourgeois political party in the US – set aside themselves to be heavily lobbied by the fossil fuel diligence from the 90 ahead . This drive , along with a profoundly disturbing campaign of misinformation , has peak with the nomination and succeeder of a Republican candidate that has often denote to climate changeas a hoax .

Of course , the President - elect is not really a conservativist in many way , but a democrat , and conserve the environment is n’t important to someone who claims to be the the great unwashed ’s vocalisation . Ironically , most the great unwashed – admit Republican elector , these 24-hour interval – actually swallow the science of mood alteration and need America to do something about it .

Still , Trump , more than anything , is an self-governing , from fact , scientific discipline , and expert view for the most part . That ’s probably why he ’s appoint a climate change - denyingattorney general to point the EPA , a man who has spent much of his vocation trying to process the EPA .

“ I do n’t recall ever having seen an appointee of someone who is so disdainful of the way and the science behind what the agency does , ” Whitman toldGristback in December .

There is hope , however – the eternal rest of the world is choke to stick to the Paris agreement , and market force are guarantee that coal will never make a rejoinder . And then there ’s forthcoming President Obama , who ’s making it as difficult as potential for Trump to sprain back metre on his legacy of environmental conservation .

By protecting as much federal earth and water as potential , Obama is build anenvironmental firewallthat can not be quickly rase once Trump takes office .

[ H / T : BBC News ]