President Trump has Little Concern for Public Health

 

While President Trump continues to receive praises from his supporters about his successes in regards to creating a robust economy, these same individuals are blissfully unaware of his failing record in protecting the health of those living in the U.S.  Actually, some may be aware, but with all the chaos which always follows Trump, the actual facts regarding this lack of concern for the public’s health is successfully floated under the radar by his supporters, and is seldom reported by the media. 

And I am not talking about his handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic.  This is of far greater importance than that debacle. 

The Trump administration under Trump’s personal guidance has been, for 4 years, systematically undoing the contamination protection of our air and waterways from cancer causing pollutants.

Those efforts have been mainly focused on eliminating restrictions on fossil fuel pollution, which include but are not exclusively restricted to, coal-fired power plants, automobile emissions, methane emissions, asbestos, and chemical hazards. 

President Trump has systematically dismantled the Clean Water Act of 1972, the Clean Water Rule of 2015, and tinkered with the Clean Air Act of 1970. 

Basically the present administration now allows polluters free reign to discharge potentially harmful cancer causing substances into our streams and wetlands without any regulation.  He accomplished this by redefining what is deemed “a waterway in the US;” thus eliminating federal protection of a significant portion of our streams, lakes, bays, lagoons, wetlands, and headways from pollutants.

He has literally put the drinking water for more than 117 million Americans at risk.  Remember the old 1969 story about the Cuyahoga River, in Ohio, actually catching on fire?  Well get ready for the return of that. 

To get a better understanding of what has occurred with regards to protecting our nation’s watercourses, imagine Trump taking  a map of the waterways in the U.S. and using one of his classic Sharpies to place an ‘X’ over a significant portion of them,  and declaring that they shall no longer count as “waters of the U.S.”  These excluded waterways, as they have been defined for decades, are now no longer subject to federal clean-water standards, and nobody will step in to stop polluters from doing things like burying streams with mining debris, or flushing toxic byproducts into a river or bay.

This new policy known affectionately as the “Dirty Water Rule” or “Toxic Water Rule” will negatively impact one in every five streams, more than half of all the wetlands, and many other lakes and ponds. 

Sadly, one would think that residents of the ‘Sportsman’s Paradise’ state would take they heads out of the Trump clouds and become informed about some of the deplorable aspects of the  Trump administration when it comes to protecting this state’s livelihood and the entire country. 

In addition, let’s look at how Trump’s toxic plans regarding air pollution have now hit our state by impacting the folks in St. John the Baptiste Parish. The Denka Performance Elastomer factory in La Place releases chloroprene into the air in manufacturing a synthetic rubber product.  In 2010 EPA determined that this chemical was a likely carcinogen (cancer causing agent), and also determined that the five census tracts with the highest cancer risk were in the vicinity of the Denka plant. 

In 2017, it was mandated that the company reduce this pollutant by 85%.  

However, a new air pollution policy from the Trump administration was clearly spelled out in a letter from EPA this month.  The Denka plant will no longer be required to measure pollutant emissions in and around its site beginning in December. No further federal regulation monitoring will take place at all. Strangely, when the EPA was contacted regarding this change, they responded with, “EPA remains committed to air monitoring near the Denka facility.  EPA also remains committed to keeping the La Place community and the general public thoroughly informed about monitoring results as quickly as possible.” 

Gee,  how can it keep the community ‘thoroughly informed” when there is no more required monitoring?  Guess this is just some more ‘fake news’ from the Trump administration minions. 

Maybe the folks in St John’s Parish should have become more informed about the facts regarding the Trump administration’s policy as it related to protecting the public’s health, and, in particular, how that would impact their parish, when they overwhelmingly supported Trump in 2016. 

President Trump is a master at distraction, and the media and the Democrats play into his hand, but his real, present, ongoing danger, lies in the things that he is secretly dismantling without Congressional approval, or knowledge, to the overall detriment of our quality of life. 

So as some of you folks continue to praise President Trump for all his great accomplishments, please don’t forget about the ‘F’ he earns in protecting your health from poisons.  His changes are going to detrimentally impact our lives and your children’s for years to come. 

I, for one, would rather sacrifice some of the stock market returns, for protection from known air and water carcinogens which could seriously impact my health. 

When you vote November 3^rd at least become informed about each candidate’s broad policies rather than focusing upon the political hypes, stereotypes, and fear monger tactics amassed by social media, your friends, and the press.  Do some factual research!  

Looking into the future of Louisiana, happy fishing in those polluted streams and lakes, and enjoy those poisonous shrimp, oysters, crabs, and craw daddies while sucking in the cancerous air, and please don’t forget who you have to thank.