The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is undergoing a complete overhaul that includes the firing of at least 40 appointees put in place by disgraced former President Donald Trump.

Over the last fours years, Trump and his cronies worked to undermine the EPA by installing fossil fuel industry insiders into key positions while denying science and purging scientists and other experts so they could kill regulations and shift policies to be biased in favor of polluters instead of the environment and public health.

To that end, they particularly focused on stacking the Science Advisory Board and the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee with loyalists. But President Joe Biden has been cleaning house since Trump left office in January, and so is his EPA Administrator Michael Regan, who is reportedly firing 40 Trump loyalists from the EPA and will return science and integrity to the two boards mentioned above.

“Scientific integrity is one of EPA’s foundational values – and as Administrator, I am committed to ensuring that every decision we make meets rigorous scientific standards,” Regan said in a statement. “Resetting these two scientific advisory committees will ensure the agency receives the best possible scientific insight to support our work to protect human health and the environment. Today we return to a time-tested, fair, and transparent process for soliciting membership to these critically important advisory bodies.”

The free ride the fossil fuel industry received over the last four years is over and they should pay a heavy price for sabotaging the EPA. It’s time to focus on preventing and reversing climate change, and that means this 19th-century industry needs to be tossed into the dustbin of history. Firing 40 Trump appointees who were fossil fuel industry cronies is a great start.

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