End of an Era

Established in 1970, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was, for 47 years, the chief agency of  conserving and preserving nature within the United States. Today, however, that has come to an end. Steve Pruitt, a member of the Republican Party who has a long history of opposing government environmental regulations, is now the leader of the EPA.
Pruitt's appointment to this position represents a turn for the worse for American environmental policy. Currently the main function of the EPA is to enforce environmental law and to ensure that agricultural and industrial activities meet ecological standards. Under the new administration, this could cease to be the case. But because of Pruitt's known connections with big oil companies, it seems unlikely that he will honor the traditional role of the EPA. Instead, it is possible that he will use his authority to roll back the regulations that the EPA has spent most of its existence building up in order to benefit the big companies he has a vested interest in.
The list of species threatened by curbing and dismantling the EPA is essentially too long to list, but it includes many that have only recently recovered from endangered or threatened status. Ironically, this includes the national animal of the United States, the bald eagle. In the process of "making America great again", the nation may yet kill off its own symbol.
What can be done about this? Already, many people are showing resistance to this change. A "rogue EPA" Twitter account has cropped up, and likewise many environmentalists are staging protests--either physically or on the internet--in order to make their voices heard. However, protests can only accomplish so much. To affect real change, the most important thing for environmentalists--or anyone-- to do is to organize as a group and develop a coherent platform of their own with broad base appeal. Needless to say, this takes time--such things always do. But then again, the EPA wasn't created overnight.