Trump signs 2 environmental orders focusing on trees, water

WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump signed two executive orders Tuesday, one pertaining to growing and conserving trees, the other pertaining to water.

The Executive Order on Establishing the One Trillion Trees Interagency Council, a global effort advanced by the World Economic Forum to grow and conserve 1 trillion trees worldwide by 2030, was embraced by Trump in January.

Senior adviser and elder daughter to the president Ivanka Trump will serve on the council. The order, she noted in a statement, follows “on the heels of the Great American Outdoors Act signed into law by the President just 2 months ago.”

The council also will include senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, domestic policy adviser Brooke Rollins and Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought.

The order noted the important role of forested watersheds in capturing and filtering drinking water.

Trump’s focus has been on pushing regulations to enforce clean air and water regulations that maintain quality of life, but to cut back on rules over ditches and farm wetlands, which he says produce negligible benefits for taxpayers.

A second document, the Executive Order on Modernizing America’s Water Resource Management and Water Infrastructure, followed a 2018 memorandum designed to streamline the regulatory process so that various bureaucracies with different mandates can work together.

The order formally establishes a Water Subcabinet that puts senior agency officials together so that they can spend less time working at cross purposes.

For example, the order would foster cooperation between the Army Corps of Engineers, which works to keep reservoirs empty when spring runoff occurs in order to prevent flooding, and the Bureau of Reclamation that stores water for summer use, said Tim Petty, assistant secretary for water and science at the Department of Interior.

Agriculture Department Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey noted the importance of this approach for American farmers.

“Water is critical to farming and the success of Rural America,” Northey said in a statement. “USDA has already taken the lead to invest in America’s wetlands through projects that inspire creative problem-solving that boosts production on farms, ranches, and private forests — ultimately improving water quality, soil health, and wildlife habitat.”

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the subcabinet will mean “safe drinking water and surface water protection” for Americans.

Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter.