Trump administration moves to block public from enforcing environmental protection laws

A citizen-initiated lawsuit under the Clean Air Act forced a cleanup at ExxonMobil's Baytown, Texas, refinery and chemical complex. AP Photo/Ashley Landis Reducing rampant pollution across the United States was so important that when Congress passed many environmental protection laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act, it didn’t want to leave enforcement only to the executive branch. Congress specifically wrote into those laws ways for citizens to enforce…