Find out how Trump’s interference with the EPA might affect the thing we rely upon most.
Love him or hate him, we can all agree that President Donald Trump has a lot of ideas that have gone against the norm of the past few presidents in the White House. Many of his policies instilled in the first 100 days have been met with a lot of backlash, especially from the Democratic side, and he has been filling our news stations since he announced his candidacy more than a year ago.
President Trump loves to speak his mind on things. This has attracted a lot of criticism, and he has faced serious backlash for his personal thoughts on immigrants and especially policies in place that affect climate change. More than 99% of scientists believe in climate change and that the Earth has been steadily warming over the last decade, and is going to continue to do so if we do not do something about it. Trump has stated that he believes climate change is a hoax that has been created by the Chinese and has openly attacked the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), seeing no purpose in funding them.
This has received an outcry from many across the United States as they see this agency so important. President Barack Obama was a firm believer in climate change and spent a lot of money on research and various strategies that the US could take to decrease carbon emissions and globally reduce their footprint. Trump wants to diminish the EPA’s regulatory capacity and is instead focusing spending on the military and other programs. This could be detrimental to the future of our planet, and could affect our clean water in the years to come. He is openly attacking the EPA and while we may not feel the harm right now, it could affect us all in years to come.
What is the EPA?
So first off, what is the EPA? The mission of the EPA is to protect human health and the environment, both in the United States and across the world. It began operation in December of 1970, after then-President Richard Nixon signed an executive order to create it. It has its headquarters located in Washington DC, and has 27 laboratories where scientists are studying the Earth and what we can do to save it. The agency does a lot of research and has many educational programs so people can learn what they can do to reduce their own carbon footprint. The EPA has the power to impose fines, and enforce laws, sanctions and other measures on states and companies who do not abide by the laws set in place. This involves pollution prevention programs and energy conservation laws. Last year, the budget of the EPA was 8.1 billion dollars, employing over 15,000 full-time employees that included legal and financial teams, engineers, researchers, and many supportive jobs. However, the Trump administration, in their budget, has proposed to cut funding by 31%, eliminating a quarter of the jobs they do.
How the EPA protects our water resources
By now, you have likely heard about the problems with water that has been happening in Flint, Michigan. There is no excuse for anyone in the United States not to have clean drinking water. This is a human right and everyone should be able to turn on their tap and be able to drink from it. Sadly, this is not the case, but the EPA has plans in place to protect our water.
First off, the EPA created the WaterSense program, launched in June 2006, that encourages companies to be efficient in their ways of using water. This includes products that have been developed such as water-efficient toilets, water-efficient showers, and water-efficient irrigation tools. While this is a voluntary program that companies can be a part of, the EPA hopes that one day it will be mandatory. There is only so much fresh water in this world, and it seems such a horrible thing to waste any of it.
Along with the WaterSense program, the EPA has ensured that everyone in the public has safe drinking water. They have done this by setting the national standards for more than 160,000 public water systems across the USA. The Safe Drinking Water Act is a federal law passed in the 1970’s that decrees that every citizen of the United States deserves clean drinking water no matter their income or social status. The EPA enforces the standards of this law and protects underground sources of drinking waters, such as wells across the country. The EPA has taken huge strides in how we can offer clean water to everyone while cutting back at how much waste existed with clean water over the past several decades.
What Trump is proposing
Trump may not understand what his cuts mean when it comes to the EPA. At first, he may not see their real purpose and how they are making strides to protect the world. He has appointed Scott Pruitt, as head of the EPA. Pruitt is a very harsh critic of the EPA and wants to repeal Obama’s Clean Power Plan and the Climate Action Plan set in place.
If regulations are not followed and are not enforced, our water faces the very real threat of dangerous and health-damaging pollution. There is severe pollution caused by many of our larger factories and mills across the country. If the EPA is not there to oversee them, they will do what is cheapest, which is to discharge their waste into our rivers and streams, and therefore, add to the pollution in our water.
We need our water to be safe
At the end of the day, we consume more water than any other food or liquid; it is integral to life and to survive. How dare we cut funding from an agency that is going to ensure clean water for generations to come? It is crucial that we stand up to Donald Trump on this decision.
Find out what you can do to stop President Trump attacking the EPA at the Huffington Post. They’ve got some great ideas on how we can protect the environment.
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