Joe Biden is taking steps to restore clean-water safeguards in the US after they were ended by ex-POTUS Donald Trump.

Per Associated Press, the Biden administration conducted a review that found that Trump's actions significantly reduced the availability of clean water in states like New Mexico and Arizona.

The agency said that at least 33 projects which would have previously required Clean Water permits can now go ahead without federal approval.

The Trump administration removed protections surrounding important sources of drinking water, including Lake Keowee in South Carolina, which provides water for over 400,000 people, per advocacy group Southern Environmental Law Center.

The EPA said in a statement that "Today's action reflects the agencies' intent to initiate a new rulemaking process that restores the protections in place prior to the 2015 WOTUS implementation, and anticipates developing a new rule to establish what waters are under federal jurisdiction.

"We are committed to establishing a durable definition of 'waters of the United States' based on Supreme Court precedent and drawing from current and previous regulations ... so we can better protect our nation’s waters, foster economic growth and support thriving communities."

The Army and EPA "will develop a rule that is informed by our technical expertise, is straightforward to implement by our agencies ... and is shaped by the lived experience of local communities," said Jaime Pinkham, acting assistant Army secretary for civil works.

Biden is pictured below on a tour of a water plant in New Orleans.

Biden's decision to reverse Trump's has been praised by environmental groups, the AP has reported.

Madeleine Foote, the deputy legislative director for the League of Conservation Voters, said: "Every day this harmful (Trump-era) rule is in effect, it endangers the waterways our communities depend on. That is unacceptable and must stop now."

North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican, meanwhile, said it was "a shame the Biden administration wants to undo the good work of the Trump administration" in developing "a workable policy that falls within the confines of the law."

Cramer said that North Dakota is likely to challenge Biden on this issue "in the event of overreach."

Kevin Minoli, a former career lawyer at EPA, said the Biden administration is now casing the same problem as the previous two with regards to the longevity of the legislation.

"Now, the question becomes, 'Can they write a definition that will last beyond their time in office?'" he said.

Featured image credit: Alamy / Chuck Nacke

President Biden is restoring the environmental protections around the largest national forest in the US after they were removed by the Trump administration.

The Tongass National Forest in Alaska had previously been known as the "lungs of America", the Independent reports, and is one of the world's largest intact temperate rain forests that soaks up about 8% of all carbon emissions in the US.

"While tropical rainforests are the lungs of the planet, the Tongass is the lungs of North America," Dominick DellaSala, chief scientist with the Earth Island Institute’s Wild Heritage project, told PBS. "It's America's last climate sanctuary."

While logging, mining, and other developments were banned back in 2001 under a roadless rule policy, the Trump administration opened up nine million acres of the forest - more than half - to both logging and road construction.

The New York Times reports that this week, the Biden administration vowed to "repeal or replace" Trump's ruling in order to protect the forest.

The new policy will be formally published in August and put into action over the next two years.

Reacting to the news on Twitter, the Centre for Biodiversity wrote: "Biden plans to restore roadless rule protections in the Tongass National Forest. This is a step in the right direction, but restoring full protections to roadless areas in this ancient rainforest is crucial for wildlife and our climate."

Biden's plan to restore the protections, however, was slammed by Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski who said it will "cost jobs, diminish income, keep energy prices high, and cripple the ability of the communities in the region to develop a sustainable, year-round economy."

She continued: "The Trump administration, through the Forest Service and USDA, put considerable work and effort into the final rule and now the Biden administration is literally throwing it all away.

"We need to end this 'yo-yo effect' as the lives of Alaskans who live and work in the Tongass are upended every time we have a new president. This has to end."

Biden's decision, meanwhile, has been praised by environmentalists including Ellen Montgomery, director of public lands campaigns for Environment America, who said she hopes it "will be a swift process to restore full roadless rule protections to the Tongass National Forest," as per the New York Times.

It's not yet known if Biden plans to completely restore the roadless rule protections in the area, or if he plans to protect some areas while maintaining development opportunities in others.

Featured image credit: Alamy / Chuck Nacke

Joe Biden has suspended the Trump administration's oil drilling in a national wildlife refuge in Alaska.

CNN reports that former President Trump had auctioned off the right to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas for $14.4 million during his last days in office.

This move concerned environmentalists, with many fearing that a number of important species, such as caribou, polar bears, and waterfowl, would have their habitat threatened by human interference through industrialism.

However, on Tuesday, June 1, a senior White House official confirmed that the incumbent POTUS has now reversed Trump's decision after making an executive order earlier this year.

Politico reports that in addition to extending its moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the area, Biden's executive order makes it possible that the Interior Department will undertake a new environmental review to address potential legal flaws in the program and assess the damage already done to the refuge.

The 1.6 million-acre stretch of tundra on Alaska’s North Slope was opened to oil and gas development in 2017 as part of Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Drafted by Senator Lisa Murkowski, the act was the culmination of decades of lobbying by the oil industry to drill for fossil fuels in the region.

Biden's executive order had been praised by a number of groups, including the Native American Gwich'in Nation. For example, in a statement made to The Washington Post, a spokesperson for the tribe commented:

"The Gwich'in Nation is grateful and heartened by the news that the Biden administration has acted again on its commitment to protecting sacred lands and the Gwich’in way of life."

What's more, acting executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League Kristen Miller told the above publication: "Suspending these leases is a step in the right direction.

"We commend the Biden administration for committing to a new program analysis that prioritizes sound science and adequate tribal consultation."

On the other hand, other pundits have criticized Biden's order as an empty gesture.

Energy analyst Pavel Molchanov told The Post. "Trump’s desire to push through this lease sale in January was essentially an empty, meaningless, political gesture. And Biden’s decision is in its own way equally symbolic: there is simply no appetite in the industry to drill there."

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President Joe Biden has signed an executive order to bring the United States back into the Paris climate accord.

Biden's Presidential predecessor, Donald Trump, infamously pulled the United States out of the Paris accords early into his administration, which sparked outrage among climate change activists.

According to BBC News, Biden has also signed another 15 executive orders.

Sky News reports that President Biden has now made it compulsory to wear face masks and face coverings in federal buildings and adhere to social distancing, and a third which pledges to deliver economic support to underserved communities and advance racial equity.

Commenting on the mandate per CNN, Biden stated:

"As we indicated earlier we’re going to be signing a number of executive orders over the next several days to weeks.

"Some of the executive actions that I’m going to be signing today are going to help change the course of the coronavirus crisis and combat climate change in ways we haven’t done so far."

Biden continued: "I think some of the things we’re going to be doing are going to be bold and vital and there's no time to start like today.

"There’s a long way to go. These are just executive actions. But we’re going to need legislation for a lot of these we’re going to do."

In a tweet addressed to his 4.9 million followers on Twitter on Wednesday, January 20, Biden wrote:

"There is no time to waste when it comes to tackling the crises we face.

"That's why today, I am heading to the Oval Office to get right to work delivering bold action and immediate relief for American families."

Meanwhile, Biden's climate envoy John Kerry tweeted: "Today, @POTUS rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement, restoring America’s credibility and commitment — setting a floor, not a ceiling, for our climate leadership.

"Working together, the world must and will raise ambition. It’s time to get to work - the road to Glasgow begins here."

Per the National Law Review, Biden's chief of staff Ron Klain has presented a memo to senior members of the administration, outlining his plans for his first ten days in office.

These include lifting Trump's restrictions on immigrants from a number of Muslim-majority countries, an extension of the pause on student loan repayments, and housing evictions during the pandemic, as well as reforms that will grant citizenship status for millions of immigrants.

Joe Biden has reversed an order made by Donald Trump which harshly punishes vandals who deface historic statues.

According to a White House press statement, the president also rescinded his predecessor's planned sculpture garden to honor American heroes and a proclamation barring entry into the United States for immigrants who cannot afford health insurance.

Per The Independent, Biden commented on the measures in an official statement, claiming: "My administration is committed to expanding access to quality, affordable healthcare.

"We can achieve that objective, however, without barring the entry of noncitizens who seek to immigrate lawfully to this country but who lack significant financial means or have not purchased health insurance coverage from a restrictive list of qualifying plans."

Trump's original proclamation was first issued in June of 2020, instructing the federal government to prosecute "to the fullest extent" any person that "destroys, damages, vandalizes, or desecrates a monument, memorial, or statue".

Per USA Today, Trump commented on the measure at the time in a press statement, claiming: "I will have an executive order very shortly. All it’s going to do is reinforce what’s already there but in a more uniform way.

"We are looking at long-term jail sentences for these vandals and these hoodlums and these anarchists and agitators. Call them whatever you want.

"Some people don’t like that language, but that’s what they are. They are bad people. They don’t love our country. And they’re not taking down our monument."

The "National Garden of American Heroes" would have included statues of a number of famous athletes, politicians, and historical figures.

It was planned to open to the public on July 4, 2026, just prior to the 250th anniversary of the proclamation of the Declaration of Independence.

Per The Washington Examiner, Trump stated in January of 2020 that: "Belief in the greatness and goodness of America has come under attack in recent months and years by a dangerous anti-American extremism that seeks to dismantle our country’s history, institutions, and very identity."

Trump continued: "The heroes of 1776 have been desecrated, with statues of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin vandalized and toppled.

"The dead who gave their lives to end slavery and save the Union during the Civil War have been dishonored, with monuments to Abraham Lincoln, Hans Christian Heg, and the courageous 54th Regiment left damaged and disfigured."

Featured Image Credit: Alamy/Keith Turrill

Donald Trump has slammed Joe Biden for rolling back the border policies he introduced during his time in office.

The former president slammed his successor on Wednesday, June 30, for his u-turn on the US border crisis, saying: "I built a wall - Biden built a humanitarian catastrophe."

"Our nation is being destroyed by Biden’s border crisis. The United States must immediately restore the entire set of border security and immigration enforcement measures we put into place ​- and critically, we must finish the wall​," Trump wrote in an op-ed published in the Washington Times. ​​

He said that without borders, there would be no nation in the US and that Biden must finish what he started for the greater good of the American people.

Trump made a point of listing the policies that Biden is reversing before saying that those which are the most damaging pertain to the border.

"Of all the vindictive, shocking, and self-defeating border security actions Joe Biden has taken, none surpasses his decision to stop the final completion of the wall," Trump said.

Pictured below is a prototype for Trump's border wall.

Trump added that by stopping the construction of the wall, he has allowed countless illegal immigrants, as well as drug dealers and human traffickers, access to the US.

The former president's opinion piece was published by the Washington Post on the same day that he visited the US border with Republican lawmakers.

Trump explained that while he made his promise to build a border wall a reality, Biden has so far only painted it.

​"Instead, Biden has enacted the most radical open borders agenda imaginable. This is perhaps the first time in world history a nation has purposely and systematically dismantled its own defenses to invite millions of foreign migrants to enter its territory and break its laws​," Trump wrote. ​

"To say that Biden has provoked a national security disaster does not even begin to do justice to the calamity," Trump said.

He went on to claim that as his administration ended catch-and-release and negotiated agreements with Mexico and other countries, Trump said he "achieved an incredible 90% reduction in illegal crossings."

Featured image credit: Dennis Brack / Alamy