Just a few days after starting his second term in the United States, Donald Trump will withdraw pollution aid that black and Hispanic communities were receiving.
These are subsidies that for four years were granted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to improve health conditions in highly affected communities, mostly consisting of Black, Latino, and low-income Americans.
This is another strong environmental measure taken by Trump, after announcing that the country will withdraw from the Paris Agreement.
Trump withdraws pollution aid from affected communities
United States’ new environmental policies.
President Donald Trump, in his first week, dismantled a White House advisory team whose task was to ensure that the entire federal government helped communities located near heavy industries, ports, and highways.
This team was part of the “Justice40” initiative created by the Joe Biden administration, which required that 40% of the benefits from certain environmental programs be allocated to severely affected communities.
By making this decision this week, Trump abolished a federal policy dating back to the Clinton era, which had established addressing environmental health issues for low-income groups and minorities as a government priority.
This also comes days after confirming the nation’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.
Affected communities
A study funded by the EPA found that Black individuals at all income levels are more likely to breathe pollution that causes heart and lung problems.
Under Biden, regulators drafted public health rules, stricter air pollution standards, and proposed rules for harmful lead pipes.
The EPA issued the largest fine ever under the Clean Air Act and stated that it reduced over 225 million pounds of pollution in overburdened communities.
Federal grants were allocated to communities to clean up contaminated sites or purchase low-emission school buses. The EPA established an office to facilitate its environmental justice work.
Changes with the new Trump administration
The policy changes differ from Trump’s last presidency. Scott Pruitt, who led the EPA during part of the first term, once called environmental justice discussions “critical to improving environmental and public health outcomes.”
Trump’s new orders are now broader. In the words of Rena Payan, program director at the nonprofit organization Justice Outside of Oakland, California, they represent “a setback of decades of progress in addressing environmental discrimination.”
Trump Takes Office: United States Will Leave Paris Agreement and Will Bet on Fossil Fuels
Donald Trump confirmed that the United States will leave the Paris Agreement. He did so by signing several executive actions that also consolidate his intention to bet on fossil fuels and reverse the country’s progress on climate change.
In his inaugural address, Trump stated that he would declare a “national energy emergency,” even though the United States is currently producing more oil than any other country at any other time.
Furthermore, he also confirmed the country’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the most significant climate agreement today.
United States will leave the Paris Agreement in the new Trump era. (Photo: EFE).
The United States had already left for a period during the magnate’s first presidency and returned with Democrat Joe Biden on the first day of his term in 2021.
The Paris Agreement, signed almost a decade ago, builds upon the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted in 1992, which had already established that human-emitted greenhouse gases are driving global warming.
Trump’s intention is to expedite permit approvals and review regulations that “impose undue burdens on energy production and use, including mining and non-combustible mineral processing,” according to a list of priorities from Trump’s press office.
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