No Retreat, No Surrender: Environmental Issues During Trump Era

The world is rapidly heating up. Thanks to the buildup of gasses, it advances global warming and climate change at a rate that has never been seen for centuries. The damage has been done. There’s no point denying that. However, we can still change our ways and reduce the damage we are currently inflicting on the world by supporting sustainable living among others.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of challenges facing all of us. For starters, the government agency that’s been trying to undo the damage of climate change and taking appropriate measures to prevent us from doing more harm will lose the government’s support and no longer be able to continue their existing environment-friendly programs. President Trump has been vocal in saying that climate change is a hoax, so it does not come out as a surprise that he is stripping the US Environmental Protection Agency of much-needed funds for its operation.

If there’s a silver lining to the toxic cloud hovering over the White House, it’s that our science-denying president hasn’t caused too much damage to the environment. Yet.

But nearly four months into the Trump administration, the risks to the nation’s air, land and water are large and looming, as is the threat to the country’s belated — and still insufficient — efforts to combat catastrophic global warming. If Trump supporters believe this is an over-regulated nation, they better prepare themselves and their descendants for unhealthier and more disrupted lives.

With help from Congress, President Trump rescinded an Obama administration rule that would have limited what coal mining operations could dump into waterways. The Senate wisely rejected a similar effort to eliminate a rule clamping down on methane releases from new wells on federal land. Trump also directed the Environmental Protection Agency to review President Obama’s marquee Clean Power Plan, which aimed to reduce emissions from power plants 32% below 2005 levels by 2030. (The plan has also been stalled by the courts.) He ordered a review of tough future fuel-economy standards for motor vehicles, as well as a government-wide reconsideration of regulations that affect job creation or “impose costs that exceed benefits.” And he wants to plant more oil and gas rigs along the U.S. coastline, including California’s.

(Via: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-trump-environment-overview-20170515-story.html)

The US is one of the progressive nations in the world with the highest carbon emission. However, the utter disregard of President Trump on many of these pressing environmental issues is putting the lives of millions of Americans at risk to deadly catastrophes once they hit.

It's common knowledge that individual harmful environmental exposures, such as radon, pesticides, and air pollution, may increase specific cancer risks in a city or region. However, new research reveals that the overall environmental quality of a geographic location is also associated with overall cancer incidence.

Counties in the United States with the poorest environmental quality rating had an average of 38 more cancer cases per 100,000 people than counties with the highest rating over the study period (2000 to 2010), report the authors, led by Jyotsna S. Jagai, PhD, MPH, from the University of Illinois, Chicago.

"Research focusing on single environmental exposures in cancer development may not address the broader environmental context in which cancers develop," observe the authors.

Their new study, which relied heavily on data from the now-embattled US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), was published online May 8 in Cancer.

The team also showed that specific cancers may be tied to overall environmental conditions. Prostate and breast cancers demonstrated the strongest positive associations with poor environmental quality, they report.

(Via: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/879760)

Aside from the scary disasters that are waiting to happen, the health of every American is also compromised from the pollutants that circulate around us and even puts us at higher risk of developing cancer over time. Some businesses have already changed. While further proof is still needed to establish the relationship between cancer and an unhealthy environment, we have long since acknowledged the fact that our health deteriorates when living in a highly populated and polluted city.

Many Americans are worried how the US will fare in the face of such devastating calamities when ruled by a leader who thinks that climate change is just a hoax. It is a tough time indeed, so we need to unite and make our voices heard. If nothing works, we can take the initiative to make these changes happen with or without the support of the government for the sake of everyone.

No Retreat, No Surrender: Environmental Issues During Trump Era is republished from The Degrafa.com Blog

source https://www.degrafa.com/no-retreat-no-surrender-environmental-issues-during-trump-era/