The White House’s proposed budget will target the lavishly funded Environmental Protection Agency (epa) plus other agencies across the board. Drafted by the Office of Management and Budget, the National Economic Council, and chief strategist Steve Bannon, the budget proposals come just ahead of President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday evening. Money for military spending will get a boost of $54 million.

The biggest cuts include those to several domestic programs and federal agencies, specifically the EPA and State Department. Under John Kerry’s tenure as secretary of State, he made climate change part of his diplomatic mission.

A more comprehensive budget will be released March 13. Trump has already indicated he won’t touch entitlements like Social Security and Medicare. He hopes to redirect billions of dollars being spent on EPA global warming programs, research, and grants.

Green Climate Fund

The money saved would be allocated to increase defense spending. During the campaign, Trump said he would stop contributing to the United Nations Green Climate Fund (GCF), ostensibly used to help “climate” refugees. He said we should be focused on fixing our country’s infrastructure, including its crumbling bridges, airports, highways, and dams.

President Obama has already forked over a billion dollars to the GCF with another $2 billion earmarked for the U.N. During the transition, the incoming Trump administration asked the State Department what it spent on environmental and climate issues. Inspectors estimate at least nearly $80 billion has been spent on climate-related programs since 2008.

NASA’s Earth Sciences

Lawmakers have already drafted legislation that would significantly curtail NASA’s global warming spending. Under Obama’s tenure, NASA’s space exploration program was severely scuttled and billions were diverted toward its Earth Science Division’s program.

NASA’s Earth Science gets $5.2 billion and senior administration officials have said as much as 34 percent may get axed.

Currently, at least seven federal agencies study climate change or have climate programs the Trump administration may want to consolidate. Trump said today that many projects get tied up for years due to environmental regulations and will now get approved or rejected much quicker. Before the final budget is released in March, agencies can explain why more money is needed than proposed. The budget will have allocations to build the southern border wall and distribute more money for ICE agents.
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