About that Crystal Clean Air and Water…
Back during the 2016 presidential campaign, then-candidate Trump promised that his administration would usher in an era of clean water and air. Crystal clean.
Um yeah, about that…
His administration from 2017 to 2020 has erased many of the regulations put into place to help ensure clean air and water.
In my debut book, Necessary Symbiosis: What Happens When Science and Government Work Together (and When They Don’t), I explore how climate change is affecting our daily lives and how the Trump administration has failed to keep the promises of then-candidate Trump.
Below is an excerpt from my third chapter (formatted for Medium). Enjoy!
Exhibit A: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Trump administration has rolled back many of the Obama-era clean water regulations. Under the Obama-era rules, nearly 60 percent of the country’s water would be regulated. That did get backlash with states and companies taking those regulations to court. However, the rolling back of those regulations means that ephemeral water, or the rivers, wetlands, and streams that form when it rains, are not protected by the Clean Water Act.(1) So instead of the “crystal clear water” that Trump promised on the campaign trail, be on the lookout for highly contaminated water, based on where you reside.
Near an oil field? Your water pipes may also have some gaseous hitchhikers.
Near some pharmaceutical plants? Your water pipes may have some lovely partially dissolved pharmaceutical by-products that will affect your body — and the bodies of the animals we eat — in unknown ways.
Exhibit B: The EPA also rolled back regulations on toxic coal ash. When coal plants burn coal, there is ash left over. That ash is extremely toxic with heavy metals like arsenic, lead, mercury, and chromium. Coal ash is a known source of carcinogens, or cancer-causing substances. In children, exposure to coal ash can cause permanent brain damage. The ash used to be dumped into giant pits, and eventually seeped into waterways or blown across the air. There are other ways to get rid of coal ash, like recycling it into concrete and wallboard. But the Trump EPA doesn’t really care about that, otherwise they would have kept the regulations in place.(2)
Instead, they are letting the coal companies run free in spewing substances everywhere. How’s that crystal clear air coming along?
And finally, Exhibit C: The legal war between California and the Trump administration has many fronts, but one of the biggest fronts is car emission standards. California has been getting a waiver from the EPA since the Clean Air Act passed in 1968 saying that California has the power to not follow EPA’s car emission standards and set its own standard. That power was granted because of California’s unique geography, weather, and the increasing number of people and vehicles in California. No other state has that power, but any other state can choose to follow California’s standard instead of the EPA’s.(3)
Under the Trump administration, the EPA wanted to stop giving California that waiver, forcing nearly half of the country to follow the EPA’s more lenient car emission standards instead of California’s more stringent standards. A couple of automakers sided with the EPA and a couple of others sided with California. So, 23 states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s EPA to make sure that the EPA continues to give California the waiver. Legally, the EPA’s position was rather shaky at best because California’s waiver was baked into law until the Trump Administration. So, the D.C. court dismissed the case in late 2019.(4)
But from an economic standpoint, that kind of uncertainty makes it difficult for automakers to decide which emission standard to follow.
Over the next weeks, I’ll be sharing excerpts and stories from my book, Necessary Symbiosis, in this article series. My book Necessary Symbiosis: What Happens When Science and Government Work Together (and When They Don’t) is available here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PW4XP38. If you want to connect, find me on Twitter (@KarraVyshnavi), Instagram (@karravyshnavi, @necessarysymbiosis), and at www.vyshnavikarra.com.
(1) Scott Neuman, and Colin Dwyer. “Trump Administration Cuts Back Federal Protections For Streams And Wetlands,” NPR, January 23, 2020; Coral Davenport, “Trump Removes Pollution Controls on Streams and Wetlands,” The New York Times, Januray 22, 2020.
(2) Lisa Friedman, “E.P.A. to Roll Back Rules to Control Toxic Ash from Coal Plants,” The New York Times, October 31, 2019.
(3) Ella Nilsen, “Trump just started a huge legal battle with California over lowering car emission standards,” Vox, September 18, 2019; Sarah Grothjan, “The California Emissions Waiver Lawsuit — Explained,” Co-Op Journal (blog), REI, October 3, 2019.
(4) Ella Nilsen, “Trump just started a huge legal battle with California over lowering car emission standards,” Vox, September 18, 2019; Sarah Grothjan, “The California Emissions Waiver Lawsuit — Explained,” Co-Op Journal (blog), REI, October 3, 2019.
