On Feb. 12, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Trump Administration reversed the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding.
This finding was put in place during Obama’s presidency and recognized the threat to public health the emission of greenhouse gases caused. It gave a legal foundation for limiting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of motor vehicles.
However, as stated on the EPA’s website, they are “eliminating both the Obama-era 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding and all subsequent federal GHG emission standards for all vehicles and engines of model years 2012 to 2027 and beyond.” The Trump Administration declared this act unimportant calling it part of the “disastrous Obama-era.” They say that reversing this finding will bring “down costs for automakers by $2,400 per vehicle.” But what is the price of cars compared to safety?
The New York Times spoke with the Environmental Defense Fund, an advocacy group, who explained how detrimental this reversal could be to our health.
“The added pollution could lead to as many as 58,000 premature deaths and an increase of 37 million asthma attacks between now and 2055,” they said.
They also noted, due to this action, GHG emissions in the U.S. are expected to increase by 10% over the next 30 years. With this increase we can expect more respiratory diseases, more extreme weather events, and more rising temperatures.
Mel McCullough, a senior from Allentown, Pa., feels this reversal has halted hope for combatting climate change.
“I think this is one of the biggest things that was stopping all these companies from advancing fossil fuel usage,” she said. “Now that this gone we’re just going to see companies using it to their advantage and just so much more fossil fuels and so much more digging. It’s just a catalyst for everything we didn’t want.”
Junior Cali Keenan agrees with Mel noting, in general, reversals like this one set us back tremendously.
“I think that a major effects of these climate rollbacks is/will be the lack of validity for the climate crisis itself,” she explained. “By deeming climate change as unimportant, the Trump administration invalidates all the extensive research done by scientists who study the causes and effects and everything in-between in relation to climate change.”
With the abundance of events occurring right now in the U.S., this issue is not getting proper attention, Cali believes. She says the best thing we can do is spread awareness.
“I think that climate change tends to be over looked because there are no immediate consequences for it,” Cali noted. “Unlike brutalities and wrong doings in the news which tend to invoke immediate emotional effects, it is harder to see how climate is slowly becoming more extreme, increasing threats to peoples everyday lives.”
Cali reminds everyone to be mindful in their everyday life suggesting we thrift and recycle more.
