We are the Antidote to Trump’s Poisonous Politics

Last week, Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) went to a coal mine in Pennsylvania to announce an “end to the war on coal”. Pruitt chose the backdrop for his speech to send the message that the Trump administration will be “a friend to industry". The Harvey Mine, where he spoke, is a notorious polluter. Only last year the mine was given a record fine for discharging polluted water into tributaries of the Ohio River, which supply drinking water for nearly 3 million people. The real message is that Pruitt and Trump favor corporate profits to breathable air, drinkable water, and a livable planet.

The EPA was created 47 years ago by a Republican president in response to the public demand that we protect the health of people and the planet. The Trump Administration’s efforts to dismantle environmental protections are unprecedented. No one wants dirtier air, more polluted water, and more toxic wastes. The powerful business interests pushing for fewer environmental regulations are not creating significant numbers of jobs, they are simply taking their profits by poisoning people and the environment. Many global corporations are acting on their own to preserve and protect the environment because they understand that long term profitability depends on the long term sustainability of a healthy eco-system.   Meanwhile, wind and solar industries currently employ over 300,000 workers while only 66,000 people are employed by coal.

Trump/Republican assaults on the environment take a variety of forms.

  • The proposed Trump budget would cut the EPA by 31% and eliminate 25% of the agency’s 15,000 employees. Among other cuts are cleanup programs in places like the Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, Puget Sound, and the Great Lakes.
  • Grants to states to help monitor drinking water are to be cut by almost a third. Your community may become the next Flint, Michigan.
  • Funds to clean up polluted “brownfields", primarily in cities would be cut 30%.
  • The 43-year-old Endangered Species Act (ESA) that now protects nearly 1600 species of plants and animals is, itself, endangered. 
  • Trump’s freeze on all new regulations is preventing the first ever protection for a species of bumblebees in response to a global crisis among these vital pollinators.
  • At the global level, Trump has consistently scoffed at the recently signed Paris Accords on climate change.  His actions are undermining this crucial global accord.

CALLS TO ACTION

Challenges to the environment are many and opportunities for action are everywhere. Pick an issue, volunteer, and donate money.  Here is how:

  1. Trump’s budget will harm our environment in every community. Identify a local environmental issue that is important to you. Study it. Call your representative and Senators and tell them to preserve funding for human and environmental health.
  2. At a national level, join the National Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club or Defenders of Wildlife, or any one of many other groups. Find one that “speaks” to your concerns.  Money matters!
  3. On April 22, join the Earth Day March for Science.  Learn more here.