Make America Toxic Again
How Trump's Budget, Project 2025, and Big Oil are Destroying Nature and Democracy
A Grave on a Hill: Personal Loss and Political Reflection
Over the weekend, my family buried a beloved cat named Bonny. Her grave lies just a foot from Budaj’s [boo-dye]—her cat companion of 14 years—on a slight ridge near my daughter’s mountain home. Bonny was always affectionate, never aloof like some cats and, although she had only one eye, she was smart enough to learn commands like “sit” and “stay.” A true people pleaser, she was never cross or stubborn. Just pure love.
As we stood at her grave, sharing stories about Bonny and Budaj, I found myself reflecting on the role animals play—not only in our homes, but in the natural world that sustains us all.
And then I thought about Donald Trump.
To the best of public knowledge, the Trumps have never had a pet. No dog on the campaign trail. No cat in the White House. No hamster in Barron’s room. But there are plenty of photos of Trump’s sons grinning beside the exotic animals they’ve gunned down on hunts. In their world, animals are trophies, not companions. The only value they hold is as something to dominate, display, or discard.
Trump’s Record on Animals and the Environment
According to The Guardian (2020), one million land and marine species are currently threatened with extinction—more than at any other time in human history. Human activity and climate change have placed 20% of the world’s countries at risk of ecological collapse. The U.S. ranks ninth on that list.
That risk has only grown under Trump’s leadership. His administration—both in the first term and again now—has systematically dismantled laws and policies protecting wildlife, land, sea, and air.
Trump reversed Obama-era rules that limited trophy imports, allowed hunting practices like bear baiting and killing wolf pups in Alaska, and delisted the gray wolf from endangered species protections. He weakened regulations on lead ammunition, ignoring scientific evidence that it poisons birds and other wildlife. In the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, he opened sacred and fragile lands to oil drilling.
Biden reversed a few of these policies—but not all. Many remain in effect today because of legal gridlock, lengthy review processes, or political hesitation.
Project 2025: Deregulation by Design
Now, with Project 20251 as a playbook, the Trump administration is going even further.
A proposed rule change to the Endangered Species Act would redefine what counts as “harm” to wildlife. Under this new logic, destroying a habitat would be legal—as long as developers or loggers say they didn’t intend to harm any specific species. That semantic loophole could wipe out protections for millions of acres of forest, including land Biden had previously restored for the Northern Spotted Owl.
It’s a core tactic of Project 2025: Remove regulations, gut enforcement, shift blame, and privatize everything.
What Biden Reversed—And What He Didn’t
To his credit, Biden:
Reinstated some endangered species protections for grizzlies
Suspended drilling leases in the Arctic (which courts later restored)
Re-banned lead tackle and bullets (although enforcement is lax)
Tightened trophy import rules to require proof of conservation benefits
But enforcement has been inconsistent, and political will has wavered. Permits for lion trophies are still issued case by case—so Trump’s sons likely won’t face resistance when they want to kill again.
The New Fronts of Environmental Destruction
Before leaving office, Biden anticipated Trumps’ assault on clean air and left behind a bold plan to cut US. greenhouse gas emissions 60% by 2035. He was correct - Trump re-withdrew from the Paris Accords on his first day back in office.
The EPA, now under his control, has drafted an outrageous plan to eliminate all restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel power plants—arguing (falsely) that the gases do not harm human health or the climate.
The Republican-led House budget:
Eliminates funding for clean diesel, school and port air pollution, and EV infrastructure
Repeals EPA fuel economy standards
Adds annual taxes on EVs and hybrids
Strips clean-energy tax credits
These policies not only worsen pollution, they also suppress the clean energy industry and kill jobs. In short: polluters win, the public loses.
Trump also issued an executive order to:
Accelerate nuclear energy development
Increase allowable radiation exposure thresholds—jeopardizing worker safety
And just this spring:
Trump approved plans to sell 112.5 million acres of California’s national forests to industrial loggers
The Bureau of Land Management announced new leases for drilling across the U.S.
The Department of the Interior signaled plans to rescind its conservation-first mission
Even the ocean isn’t safe. In April, Trump ordered NOAA to fast-track deep-sea mining permits for a California-based company. More than 30 nations, scientists, and environmental organizations oppose this kind of mining due to its potential to disrupt ecosystems and reduce the oceans’ ability to absorb carbon dioxide.
The Dictatorship of Deregulation
Possibly the most insidious of all is Trump’s executive order barring state and local governments from enacting stronger environmental rules unless they get federal approval. It’s a direct attack on state autonomy—and deeply ironic given his party’s frequent calls for “state’s rights.”
At the same time, the administration is defunding FEMA2 and floating plans to eliminate it altogether—shifting disaster recovery to the states, while simultaneously stripping their power to prevent disasters through environmental regulation.
This isn’t incompetence. It’s a Project 2025 design.
Conclusion: This Is a Plutocracy, Not a Presidency
These policies—executive orders, budget cuts, regulatory rollbacks—are all part of Project 2025, a blueprint to concentrate wealth, erase protections, and turn public goods into private profits.
They’re liquidating national parks, gutting scientific agencies, and muzzling federal researchers. They’re turning forests into firewood for industry and oceans into pits for mineral extraction. They’re pushing wildlife toward extinction—for fun, for money, for dominance.
They are a government by the wealthy, for the wealthy—a plutocracy masquerading as democracy. Everyone else—human or animal—is expendable in their authoritarian design.
Sources
(Linked inline or listed here for transparency)
The Guardian (2025-04-17): Trump endangered species rollback
AP (2025-05-23): Trump accelerates seabed mining
Reuters (2025-05-24): EPA ends greenhouse gas limits
NPR (2024-03-28): Endangered species protections restored
Washington Post (2025-01-08): Grizzly protections reinstated
SUWA (2025-04-16): Public lands rule rescinded
Environmental Law Blog (2025-04): Trump blocks state climate laws
Reuters (2025-03-26): Arctic drilling restored
Congress.gov (2025): House Bill 1 – Limitations on Environmental Spending and Oversight
Western Caucus (2025): Statement Supporting Environmental Deregulation and Fossil Fuel Expansion
Washington Post (2025-05-23): Trump Pushes Nuclear Expansion, Raises Radiation Limits
Associated Press (2025): Trump Withdraws U.S. from Paris Climate Agreement Again
Reuters (2025-03-26): Court Reinstates Trump-Era Oil and Gas Leases in Arctic Refuge
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (2020-10): Trump Administration Returns Gray Wolf Protection to States
Axios (2020-06-10): Trump Ends Ban on Killing Bear Cubs and Wolf Pups in Alaska
NPR (2024-03-28): Biden Restores Protections for Threatened Species