As America Celebrates 250th, Murkiness Surrounds Trump-Backed Planning Fund
Key takeaways
- The Mosaic Co. mines phosphate and potash, which are used in the production of agricultural fertilizers.
- “They are currently waiting for a major regulatory decision that could impact their company.
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Republish A Freedom 250 banner celebrating America’s 250th birthday hangs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture building on June 2 in Washington, D.C. Credit: Kevin Carter/Getty Images Related Chemical Accidents Rise as Trump Administration Proposes Weakening Safety Rules Trump’s ‘Unprecedented’ Regulatory Rollbacks Fuel Surge in Protective Climate Lawsuits Trump Administration’s Coal Investments Breathe New Life Into Plants With Repeated Violations Share This Article Republish Most Popular Can Clusters of Human-Constructed Ponds in the Arizona Desert Save a Threatened Frog? A Pipeline Company Says It Will Protect the Environment in North Carolina. Its Record in Tennessee Says Otherwise. New Florida Law Bans Local Net-Zero Emissions Policies Among the sponsors of Freedom 250, the organization created by President Donald Trump to plan the celebration of the nation’s semiquincentennial, is a Florida mining company with a regulatory issue pending before the Trump administration, according to a new report.
The Mosaic Co. mines phosphate and potash, which are used in the production of agricultural fertilizers. The Tampa-based company, with operations in North and South America, is seeking a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to expand a waste pile in Florida, raising environmental concerns in a state that is vulnerable to intensifying hurricanes, according to the report by the Revolving Door Project and Public Citizen, two watchdog groups.
“They are currently waiting for a major regulatory decision that could impact their company. So they have every incentive to appear as close to Trump as they can,” said Alan Zibel, a researcher at Public Citizen and co-author of the report. “We should know which companies are trying to influence the government and why and what they want. We know a little bit about that through campaign finance disclosures, but vehicles like this that are completely opaque, in the dark, make it hard to understand who is trying to influence our government.”