The Trump Administration added yet another environmental regulation rollback to their collection in early September: a reversal of energy-efficiency standards for lightbulbs. These standards would have gone into effect in 2020 and gradually phased out incandescent and halogen bulbs in favor of LEDs.
This reversal is hardly surprising, considering the administration has rolled back some 85 environmental rules since 2016, according to The New York Times.
The rollbacks are broad — they include standards for air pollution, emissions, drilling, infrastructure, habitat protections, toxic substances and water pollution. Republicans claimed many of the policies affected by the rollbacks were bad for business.
In 2018, the administration changed the way the Endangered Species Act is applied. The law had previously saved the bald eagle and the Yellowstone grizzly black bear from the edge of extinction, but Republicans said the act was cumbersome and restricted economic development, according to The New York Times.
When the Trump administration repealed clean water protections for streams and wetlands, EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler said the repeal would mean “farmers, property owners and businesses will spend less time and money determining whether they need a federal permit and more time building infrastructure,” according to the New York Times.
Clearly, environmental health is not a priority in the Trump administration, but the rollbacks reveal a larger issue: the Trump administration and the Republican Party are actively against protecting the environment, especially when it does not benefit business.
Perhaps the regulations were cumbersome — just like how cumbersome life will be for everyone when we suffer the inevitable consequences of actively damaging the environment for the sake of business growth and personal comfort.
Climate change is here. The oceans are getting hotter, high-tide floods are increasing along with the sea level, and the temperature is rising too fast for animal evolution to keep up.
The Trump administration’s actions against environmental protections are foolish and shortsighted. When human lives are hurt by climate change, the businesses will go down with them.
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