CNN reports:

Just hours after his swearing-in this week, as a raft of executive orders was presented and signed at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump authorized action to end “radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing.”

Employees in federal positions overseeing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives were put on paid leave as officials were ordered to “coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”

Trump’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk has derided DEI initiatives as “racism” and opponents say they take opportunities away from White Americans.

But Trump’s Monday order also took aim at “environmental justice” — eliminating positions and assessing spending on projects, including those aimed at poor, rural communities.

Grants approved and under consideration by the Federal Emergency Management Agency show projects from Alaska to Florida, many targeted at helping small communities. They include:

• $23m for a new wastewater treatment plant in DePue, Illinois, where heavy rains have caused sewage backup in people’s basements;
• $5.4m to upgrade the wastewater facility in Hickory, North Carolina, to protect it from floods — as were seen when Hurricane Helene ravaged mountain communities; and
• $2.5m for a safe room for students and staff in Danville, Arkansas, an economically disadvantaged rural community with no school tornado shelter, in a county where a deadly historic long-track tornado spawned in 2008.

Many of the plans were helped by the Justice40 initiative of former President Joe Biden, which ensured 40% of federal spending on climate and clean energy programs flowed to disadvantaged communities. Billions of dollars, largely through Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, have brought solar to tribal lands, paid for electric school buses to replace gas-powered vehicles, and funded local groups to clean up their pollution-burdened communities. [Continue reading…]