The changes being enacted will have a huge effect on public health and the environment

By Dr. John J. Hidore

April 5, 2017—-Millions of people are astounded at the sudden change in the position of the government of the United States on such issues as public health, public education and the environment.. The policies of our national government changed in an instant when Donald Trump was elected president and the Republican Party retained control of the House of representatives and the Senate. The platform of the elected president was to return the nation’s policies to another time when corporations ruled supreme with no regulation. At the beginning of 2017, the majority of the states already were under control of people that wanted to set the United States back to another time. With the election of the president, the Republican Party began planning for the takeover of the United States government. They are moving rapidly to make sure their agenda is in place.

President Trump’s Goals on Public Health and the Environment

The current president has filled his cabinet with men and women that have made it their business to use whatever means necessary to do two things. (1) eliminate or bypass the regulations this country has established to protect its citizens against heavy handed treatment by individuals and corporations, (2) to remove all regulations that protect the natural resources that sustain life on the planet. Many of the newly appointed government officials have publicly denounced or denied that global warming and climate change are real in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. They have also started to cut many social services in favor of free enterprise.

The Environmental Protection Agency

One of the primary organizations, whose purpose it is to protect the public from adverse environmental changes and provide safeguards for natural resources, is the EPA. There are (or were at the beginning of 2017) more than 9000 employees in the EPA. They included men and women from a variety of sciences along with management personnel. The EPA was established in 1970 by congress to protect and to create and maintain a healthy environment for the people of the United States. In past years it has set an example for the rest of the world. The clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act were both created by the EPA.

Scott Pruitt: An Opponent of the EPA

Less that a month after his election, President Trump nominated Scott Pruitt, a lawyer and former attorney general of Oklahoma, to head the EPA. A brief examination of Pruitt’s past record establishes his credentials for fulfilling his task. He has often expressed his doubts as to whether global warming is real. Pruitt has filed 14 different lawsuits against the EPA. One of these lawsuits challenged the EPA regulations limiting the emission of greenhouse gases from power plants using fossil fuels. He also sued the government over regulations established under the Clean Water Act. As a supporter of the fossil fuel industry, in his confirmation hearings he refused to turn over large numbers of emails between himself and corporate executives of energy companies. In the hearings he indicated he doubted that greenhouse gas emissions were the fundamental cause of global warming or that sea level was rising. He joins President Trump and Secretary of Energy Rick Perry in this opinion.

Pruitt Begins the Process of Gutting the EPA

Scott Pruitt was appointed head of the EPA to lead the way in eliminating environmental regulations that have or would cut into corporate profits. He began his task almost immediately by reducing personnel and cutting spending. President Trump’s proposed budget to the next budget period cuts the EPA budget by 31% and employees by 20%. President Trump has accused the agency of creating junk science. Pruitt is in the process of taking science out of the EPA and replacing scientists with industry representatives.

The changes being enacted will have a huge effect on public health and the environment. Pruitt plans to eliminate nearly 50 programs now operated by the EPA. Some of the most effective programs run by the EPA will be cut back or eliminated. These include the Clean Power plan, the Clean Water Plan and the Office of Environmental Justice. which was enacted in 1992. A bill has also been introduced into the house that would eliminate the EPA altogether by the end of 2018.

New Legislation in 2017 Eliminates the Progress Made Over Many Decades

To accomplish his goal of eliminating regulations on corporations, Trump’s team is proposing the Honest and Open New EPA Science and Treatment Act of 2017 (HR 1430). It is being referred to as the Honest Act. Another new piece of legislation enacts the EPA Science Advisory Board. The act would prohibit scientists who receive funds from the EPA from serving on the board. However, the bill allows industry representatives to sit on the board.

Republican Controlled Legislatures Play Follow the Leader

Many state governments began the process of eliminating regulations protecting people from corporations before Trump was elected president. Beginning in 2011 the state of North Carolina began passing legislation to protect polluters. In response to pressure by some major companies they rescinded previously enacted laws protecting the people from atmospheric pollutants. They also took the step of eliminating nearly half of the air quality monitors in the state. These steps made it difficult to deny applications from corporations to exempt them from emission regulations. Other states have now followed the lead of the federal government.

This attack on the EPA is in line with the President’s policies. There will be no regulation of business. Free enterprise and the accumulation of wealth is what the Trump administration represents.

Every citizen who objects to these new policies should become an activist by whatever means they can. Act now before it is too late!

Trump, Pruitt and the EPA