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President Donald Trump recently released his proposed budget and, in a surprise to almost no one monitoring the specifics, announced a devastating 27 percent cut to the Environmental Protection Agency.
After all, this is far from Trump's first attack on the environment and not even the first time he has asked for deep cuts at the EPA. His administration has rolled back 95 critical policies that will set us back years in making progress toward our fight against climate change.
Even casual consumers of news are aware of Trump's disregard for climate change and decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement. But is it vital that we recognize each of these devastating decisions, including the lesser-known policy changes, many of which disproportionately affect poorer communities and people of color. We cannot sit by and watch as the Trump administration not only rejects new efforts to combat climate change and protect nature but takes steps to make matters worse.
Here are some of the overlooked yet powerful policy changes that could be impacting you right now:
Stripping Away the National Environmental Policy Act
Earlier this year, the Trump administration proposed rolling back key policies in the National Environmental Policy Act, which assesses the environmental and community health impacts of all federally permitted infrastructure projects. If a pipeline, highway, factory or other major pollution-causing infrastructure project was planned near you, and you had concerns about potential harm to your community's health and environment, you could voice those concerns under NEPA.
The administration's proposed changes significantly cut the amount of time spent on reviewing the environmental effects and public opinion of federally funded projects—or completely eliminate it on specific projects to fast-track construction.
A project near you might be completed faster, but that might come at the expense of your air, soil and water quality, as well as your physical health.
Letting Dirty Power Plants Continue to Pollute Our Communities
For decades, coal-fired power plants were our country's largest source of carbon emissions, contributing to global warming. In 2015, President Barack Obama enacted the Clean Power Plan, requiring each state to create a plan to reduce carbon emissions from power plants and transition the electric sector to renewable energy and natural gas. In response, climate action organizations helped states develop implementation plans that protected frontline communities by giving them a seat at the table to discuss the transition.
The Clean Power Plan was one of the first major climate policies the Trump administration repealed, allowing each state to decide how, if at all, it wants to reduce emissions from the power sector.
Additionally, the administration has taken steps to undo the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which limit the amount of mercury and other harmful toxins power plants can release into the air.
Slashing Energy-Efficient Vehicle Standards
Fuel efficiency has become a major selling point for consumers looking to reduce their vehicle's contributions to air pollution and emissions, while also saving money at the gas pump. In 2012, the EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration worked together, along with auto manufacturers and environmental groups, to update federal clean car standards and ensure new cars would be manufactured to be more efficient.
When Trump took office, automakers asked for small rollbacks to weaken the policy, and the administration responded by proposing freezing the standards altogether, resulting in billions of tons of air pollution, billions in lost fuel savings at the pump and the elimination of hundreds of thousands of jobs.
The administration has even stated that it will block states that choose to continue operating under the more efficient standards.
Polluting Our Waterways (Again) With Liquid Trash
The Clean Water Act provides federal protections to our water, baring industries from dumping their liquid waste into these surface waters.
The Trump administration recently reinstated a loophole in the policy that only protects bodies of water large enough for a boat to travel through, which rolls back an Obama-era executive order to expand the term "waterways" to include wetlands and other smaller bodies of water, applying to 60 percent of the country's water. Now, any other body of water can be fair game for dumping of pollutants, causing damage to the quality of our drinking water and health.
Releasing Potent Methane That Speeds Up Global Warming
In August 2019, the EPA announced plans to reduce limitations on the amount of methane gas that oil and gas companies can release in production. The proposal rolled back yet another effort by the Obama administration to tackle climate emissions, as methane gas is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide in accelerating the greenhouse gas effect.
The Trump administration's push to weaken the methane standards was controversial even among oil and gas companies—some of whom are already capturing methane leaks on their job sites even though it can be more costly for their bottom line.
There are 90 other ways that the Trump administration has diminished our country's progress on environmental action.
The president says he's doing good things for our air and water. He touted a plan to plant trees in his State of the Union, and he is planning to propose more regulation of nitrogen oxide emissions from heavy-duty trucks. But these are tiny gestures in the face of a large-scale, imminent disaster. It's like he is trashing our house and wanting credit for taking out a bag of garbage.
It's time for communities to reclaim their voices—and they can. The budget isn't finalized yet, and two years ago, Trump proposed massive cuts to the EPA that weren't approved by Congress. You can still make your voice heard by calling your members of Congress and senators and ask them to protect your rights to clean air, clean water and a stable climate. It's their job, and we can't afford to wait until it's too late to ask them to do it.
Eleanor Fort is the Deputy Director for Green for All, a program of Dream Corps that works at the intersection of environmental, economic justice and racial justice movements to advance solutions to poverty and pollution. She is based in Boston.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
