The Socialist Program with Brian Becker Trump Guts EPA: ‘Make America More Polluted Again’?
Feb 18, 2026
Richard Wolff, economist and co-founder of Democracy at Work, discusses how removing EPA powers shifts pollution costs onto the public. He explains why profit-driven firms externalize environmental harm. They contrast EPA-era improvements with earlier pollution and call out political moves that favor corporations over regulation.
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EPA Rollback Prioritizes Profit Over Health
- Trump’s rollback removes EPA oversight of greenhouse gases, effectively prioritizing corporate profit over environmental protection.
- Richard D. Wolff argues this pandering lets polluters proceed without accounting for social harms.
EPA Achieved Huge Pollution Reductions
- The EPA created in 1970 produced major pollution reductions like 78% less of six pollutants and 99% cleaner cars.
- Brian Becker emphasizes these gains came from grassroots movements forcing political change, not elite benevolence.
Profit Motive Drives Recurring Environmental Crises
- Capitalism's profit motive systematically ignores long-term environmental costs, producing recurring crises across technologies.
- Wolff and Becker link historical shifts (coal, nuclear, AI) to decisions that prioritized profit over safety and planning.
