We can't let Trump roll back 50 years of environmental progress

[Rhiannon12866]

I worked for the EPA for 33 years. We can’t let this administration obliterate half a century of environmental progress

Elizabeth Southerland
Wed 22 Apr 2020 06.45 EDT

On the first Earth Day in 1970, millions of Americans took to the streets to demand clean air, water and land, and advocate for a healthier and more sustainable environment. By the end of the year, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was founded.

Within 10 years, Congress had passed many of the major environmental laws that protect us to this day. The EPA and other agencies worked to improve the quality of our air and water; clean up contaminated land; curb toxic chemicals; and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

April 22 is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. We are at another historic juncture. The world faces environmental and public health challenges that earlier celebrators of Earth Day would have found difficult to imagine.

Over the past four years, the Trump administration has reversed or rolled back many policies that protected Americans’ health and environment. Under this administration, the EPA has been transformed from an agency of environmental protection to an accommodating servant of special interests.

The Trump EPA has repealed or weakened almost 100 environmental regulations, even when affected industries have not objected to the rules. The number and speed of these repeals puts us in uncharted territory. Critical public health and worker protections are being rolled back solely to maximize corporate profits.

We cannot allow 50 years of hard-won environmental progress to be reversed in just four years.

These rollbacks and efforts to weaken the rules will have real-life, measurable impacts, including increased illnesses and premature deaths. The repeal of air quality rules has increased air pollution, causing more respiratory illnesses and heart disease and accelerating the effects of climate change.

The rollback of water quality rules has endangered drinking water, fisheries and recreational waters that support the health and economies of communities throughout the country. The failure to adequately fund cleanups at Superfund sites has left communities with contaminated land, fenced off from any beneficial use for years as remediation is delayed.


Much more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/22/earth-day-50-years-anniversary-environment-trump



On the first Earth Day in 1970, millions of Americans took to the streets to demand clean air, water and land.’ Photograph: AP

[beachbumbob]

1. the consequences of an election are only undone by the next election, no way to "stop" trump

at the moment .

Sure makes that not voting for the lesser of 2 evils awfully painful now

[SheltieLover]

2. K&R