Social Media Trashes Trump’s EPA Over Move to Bring Back Asbestos

(X/Alex Brandon/AP photo)

President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering lifting a ban on asbestos, the cancer-causing mineral that’s been comprehensively outlawed since last year.

Asbestos, which has been known to cause mesothelioma and other types of cancers, was fully outlawed by the Biden administration after decades of a partial ban. Now, the Trump EPA under Administrator Lee Zeldin, has told a federal appeals court that it is reconsidering the ban, The New York Times reported this week.

As is often the case, the reaction tweets came fast and furious.

The EPA will now examine whether aspects of Biden’s ban on chrysotile asbestos “went beyond what is necessary to eliminate the unreasonable risk and whether alternative measures — such as requiring permanent workplace protection measures — would eliminate the unreasonable risk,” according to a court declaration obtained by the Associated Press.