The keyword “epa” is currently trending due to recent significant actions taken by former President Trump regarding environmental regulations. The news indicates that he has revoked a crucial scientific finding that formed the basis for the U.S. government’s efforts to combat climate change. This repeal appears to have restored the political landscape around environmental policy, particularly influencing the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gases.
This development has generated considerable search interest, as it directly impacts national and global efforts to address climate change. Articles from major news outlets such as AP News, The New York Times, and The Washington Post report on the implications of this repeal, highlighting it as a major shift in U.S. environmental policy. The immediacy and importance of this topic have naturally prompted many individuals to seek further information, resulting in over 20,000 searches.
The focus on the EPA also arises from the broader public interest in environmental issues and climate change. With the repeal of the endangerment finding, the perception of regulatory power concerning climate action is at stake, capturing the attention of those concerned about environmental legislation. The authoritative nature of these news sources adds to the urgency for the public to stay informed, further driving the volume of searches.
Overall, the action’s timing, its direct consequences on pivotal climate policies, and the potential long-term effects on environmental protections have collectively contributed to the surge in search interest surrounding the keyword “epa.”
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Internet Reacts
C
I just don’t understand how a Conservative can, at the same time: – believe that a benevolent, caring God created the Earth and, at the same time – see no problem destroying it
O
This is very easy to understand if you grew up in an Evangelical church. They believe that God granted them dominion over the earth so they can do whatever they want with it. Additionally, they believe the “end times” are coming and many of them think it’ll happen in their lifetime, so it’s not like they need to care about what happens to the planet 100 years from now.
O
Also, God won’t let that happen. I hear it all the time, and I just bite my tongue. It’s like they’ve heard of all the horrible things that have happened in history, and yet this next thing won’t be allowed to happen because reasons.
F
My favorite modern parable that relates to this: A town is being evacuated because of a flood. First floor under water. Boat comes by and tells family they need to evacuate. Dad says, “nah we’re good. God will save us.” Water rises. Second floor under water. Another boat comes by, tells them to evacuate. “No, God will save us!” Water rises. Helicopter comes by for family now on roof. Now or never they tell them. “No, God will save us!” Family dies and goes to heaven. “God, why didn’t you save us?” God: “I sent two boats and a helicopter….”
O
My favorite as well 😆
B
As a Christian this mentality bugs me to no end. If God wouldn’t let things happen than half the bible doesn’t exist. God lets people do horrible things all the time. It is kind of the central theme of the entire old testament. Granted I am the only Christian I know that has actually read the bible so theres that I guess.
G
Evangelicals don’t believe anything in the bible. They’ve invented their own version of christianity and everything else is just the scattered remnants of the religion they spawned from. It’s a faith based entirely around “you never have to feel guilty about anything and every decision you make is the right one”, and the results are predictably destructive.
P
Don’t forget the other side to it: That everything wrong with the world is caused by ‘the enemy’. It leads to the “I’m perfect, everyone else is the problem” philosophy which isn’t unique to right-wing evangelicals, but they do take an odd pride in it.
C
Yes! The enemy. That’s how one justifies being Unchristian to others. THEY DESERVE IT.
P
Just look at almost every “Faustian bargain” type story. Okay, sure, there’s occasionally a little minor trickery on the part of the devil, but more often than not? The devil lives up to their part of the agreement, and then the story is the protagonist trying to weasel out of their responsibilities. But it’s okay, though, because the devil doesn’t deserve to be treated ethically. Ethics are only for ‘good’ people such as yourself. If someone is ‘evil’, in other words different from yourself, they deserve to be lied to, cheated, and made to suffer. And even better? Good and evil have pleasantly rigid definitions. They aren’t based on your actions or intentions, they simply are based on what you are. We are born good, and others are born evil, making for a convenient little hierarchy, where we only need to be kind and decent to those who happen to personally benefit us.
D
Luckily the Faustian bargain stories end up badly for the protagonist.
R
Yep, this is the whole mentality on which the degenerates over at the Westboro Baptist Church was built. They say AIDS is a curse and that homosexuals deserve it. Never mind the fact that heterosexuals can get it, too…
T
That’s why sports is so important in my opinion. It occupies that same irrational monkey need of vilifying the enemy tribe that religion does, but in a much more fun and less harmful way. If more people shit posted about their NFL team in a place like /r/NFCNorthmemewar instead of going to church the world would be much better off.
S
And, money equals God’s grace and love and approval. So if you have money, no matter how you get it, god let you have it so he approves of you or others that have it. And God disapproves of the ones that don’t, they’re poor bc they suck, regardless of the fucking words in the Bible they lie about following.
B
You are completely correct since if they believed what Christ taught he specifically says that mentality is bad. Whole “Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” and all.
P
Ironically, in the Bible the incident where people responded with “let’s eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die” was so offensive to God, he said “even if you repent I will not forgive you”.
A
Plus I feel like Christians always have the “get out jail free” card of: “All I have to do is ask for forgiveness and sometimes accept Jesus into my heart and I’ll be forgiven in the eyes of the Almighty” The trope of the 11th hour forgiveness is very real, some of the shittiest people I’ve ever met like to say “well if I’m wrong Jesus will forgive me” They don’t care what happens to others, sky daddy will always forgive them.
Z
The thing to understand is that Christianity specifically was – meaning no offense – a fairly literal apocalypse cult that preached the end times were coming, imminently, and would be followed by an earthly paradise / utopia after a hell / apocalypse of war and destruction. In the late roman empire. Nothing has, apparently, stopped Christians from continuing to off and on again believe this, and that furthermore this applies to *them specifically,* for the last 2k years. The 7th day adventists are, for example, a fairly comical (as relatively modern) version of this. But those people are probably in fact actually pretty *authentic* to early christians, and if nothing else are following a very long and time honored tradition of expecting that the apocalypse will be coming… at some (near) point in their lifetimes. They just put a very specific date (or rather, *dates*) on their predictions, and there are obviously *still* 7th day adventists despite very clearly having been proven wrong for the last… checks notes… 181 years. Also of note the *source* for most of this (ie highly detailed christian end times prophecies) is a specific lunatic, John of Patmos, aka John the Apostle. And Christianity in general should be kinda understood not insomuch as just things that Christ *specifically* taught (apply that with modern science and philosophy and you get Humanism), and definitely not just things in the jewish OT (though there is considerable creep on that front), but… all of those things combined, *plus* a bunch stuff from early followers who were clearly extremely mentally ill, and who were, basically, grappling with the probably more or less unexpected early death of christ himself. And *that* mind you is the religion that took over the roman empire, and then (more or less) the world. Point being that if you believe in *that* stuff (ie christian apocalypse-ism) that is… not great. And not particularly wise. See the last 2k years of history, more or less. Early christians obviously believed that christ would return in *their* lifetimes, not later. And while I certainly do not mean to imply that all or even most – hopefully – christians believe in this, there are many, many who do. Because it’s a psychologically exciting prediction that can give your life / times you were born in some kind of special meaning etc. It’s also definitely not specific to christianity, although many of these ideas are derived from it. It’s just millenarianism / apocalypseism / etc., in a nutshell. “the singularity” is just another take on this, etc etc
B
A good deal of Christian apocalypse beliefs tend to come from two accounts in the Bible. The first and most often quoted is Revelations which you referred to. My biggest problem with Revelations is that it is incredibly symbolic and vague. This gives people a good deal of wiggle room when “interpreting” the book. Second, is when Christ’s apostles asked him what the end would be like. However, his followers had actually asked two questions , what the end would be like and what he meant when he said the temple would be destroyed. This has led to some confusion IMO regarding the end times since Christ was answering two questions at once. As a Christian I avoid any talk about the apocalypse since Jesus himself said he didn’t know when it would happen so why would I possibly know anything about it. I do think you are correct in your assessment on how people want to feel important and that the time they spend here on Earth has some profound meaning. Jesus taught the opposite though. We are supposed to be good to each other and live lives that are simple and good.
U
Would God be willing to prevent evil but unable? Therefore he is not omnipotent. Would he be capable, but without desire? So he is malevolent. Would he be both capable and willing? So why is there evil?
I
I personally know more atheists that have read the Bible than Christians.
F
>Also, God won’t let that happen. It’s so funny comparing this to medieval Christianity. If we were in medieval times, the response would not be God won’t let it happen, it would be this is a punishment for our many sins. I’m so shocked that anti-climate change Christians don’t flip that around and make climate change the Divine punishment from God for “evil liberalism”.
D
They still think that. They just think it’s a punishment for us not killing all the gays and immigrants.
P
They kinda do. Whenever a storm hits a liberal city it’s God’s will a because of Demoncrats.
A
[ Removed by Reddit ]
D
Those same people never consider that God has absolutely no qualms with doing horrible things to people if they don’t do what He wants. Even genocide isn’t off the table when talking about the Christian God.
I
God didn’t want us to die of preventable disease so He gave us science, medicine and doctors. Say that the next time and watch their heads explode.
B
They also believe that for Jesus to return the world has to be ending. The more they do to destroy the planet, the closer they are to Jesus coming back and saving them all.
B
They are an Apocalypse cult.
G
I’m sure he’ll be very happy with them when he comes to see what they did
F
Yes. They think owning means you can smash it. Pets, kids, wives. Mine to use as I see fit. I can’t reconcile that with the way Jesus leads, but they largely ignore the stuff that requires them to make lifestyle sacrifices.
R
Not to mention all the employees they own
C
I think the biggest part is that they’ve convinced themselves that they are not destroying it. That’s why we get all the “the planet heats up some times” or whenever it’s cold “wHaT aBoUt GlObAl WaRmInG” comments. To quote H.L. Mencken, “For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.” We’d have done ourselves a lot of favors by originally calling it climate instability instead of global warming. They will forever use anecdotal responses that combat that phrase and not the real issue. They believe god created a planet that works like that, and in god’s omni-convenience, they don’t have to worry about it, and definitely don’t have to make an effort to change it. If anything, efforts to change it are an affront to god. The smallest bit of scrutiny and research disproves that, but why would god need evidence?
B
The evangelical church is literally a capitalist op.
S
Also a weird “everything is according to gods plan” element
J
Exact same upbringing and this is 100% correct. Also, when you believe a magical omnipotent being is looking out for you, and that the world is temporary and you’re going to live in a perfect place forever when you die, then it’s extremely easy to justify taking zero responsibility for fucking up here and completely ignore future repercussions.
H
They dismiss it as God’s will. He knows everything that’s gonna happen, so he’s obviously cool with it. Fucking pinecones, all of them.
T
>- believe that a benevolent, caring God created the Earth They beleive such a god granted them the earth and thats its impossible for puny powerless humans to disrupt his all powerful plan for the earth. Therefore nothing we go on a global warming scale can do anything.
J
Just remember when a Republican complains about “regulations” what they mean is “accountability”. Regulations are how we make people and companies accountable. They will do anything to avoid accountability.
S
Most of them are in an apocalyptic death cult, and the ones that aren’t are neo-feudalists who believe 80-90% of the population needs to die anyway.
T
“This is Gods will. God will save us.” That’s how.
N
It’s not destroying it according to them. Hell at the flea market one day I heard two guys talking and one said it’s hotter because the smog clouds aren’t blocking the sun anymore…
0
There is some truth to that. Pollution from big cargo ships was blocking the sun in spots. During covid we saw a temp rise due to less shipping being done. Link just if you’re curious https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cleaned-up-shipping-emissions-have-revealed-additional-global-warming/ Now obviously continuing to pollute to “control the temperature” is a silly idea but Republicans are silly folk.
G
I was once told “God made the world. Do you think we are more powerful than God so as to be able to destroy his creation?” I agree it’s a STUPID argument, but some of them literally think it’s impossible for us to wreck the world.
B
I swear if we hadn’t curbed cigarette usage in public spaces in the 2000s, Conservatives today would all argue about how second hand smoke doesn’t cause cancer.
O
Right, if you believe God created heaven and earth, you believe God built our home. How would anyone feel if they built a home for someone and that someone trashed it beyond repair? Pretty fuckin mad I bet.
T
It’s because the conservatives as a base are, objectively, the far less intelligent group politically, and much more gullible. And the controlling powers continue to reap the rewards of fossil fuels, so need to maintain a narrative that discredits anything that stands in the way of them making more money. So they just convince conservative voters that “climate change is a hoax” and “EVs are woke” so acts like this go unchallenged and in many cases celebrated by their base.
S
Half of the loudest of them are always talking about the fucking rapture, so it checks out that they want it expedited
E
If you read the bible, it even says that men will be stewards of the earth. Stewards means caretakers. People responsible for shit. These people are the most godless people on earth.
R
“God will take care of it.”
Additional Sources:
The Washington Post – Trump repeals U.S. government’s power to regulate climate
