Talking Points Do Not Equal Reality
After decades of improvement, America’s air may not be getting any cleaner.
Air
Over the last two years the nation had more polluted air days than just a few years earlier, federal data shows. While it remains unclear whether this is the beginning of a trend, health experts say it’s troubling to see air quality progress stagnate.There were 15% more days with unhealthy air in America both last year and the year before than there were on average from 2013 through 2016, the four years when America had its fewest number of those days since at least 1980.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed just the opposite, saying earlier this month in Ireland: “We have the cleanest air in the world, in the United States, and it’s gotten better since I’m president.”
Water Quality
Lack of clean water is a problem older than the Trump administration. In Denmark, South Carolina, the water has not been drinkable since at least 2008. Residents in Flint, Michigan, have not had clean water since 2014. The water in Pittsburgh has been contaminated since 2016. Officials in Airway Heights, Washington, discovered PFAS, which can cause cancer, in their drinking water in 2017.But Trump’s administration has rolled back more than 70 environmental protection rules—including allowing the Environmental Protection Agency to disregard the dangers of certain toxins. (A court found this to be illegal, but environmental watchdogs say the administration has not fully shifted course.) He has weakened rules that block companies from dumping waste in local waterways. The administration has proposed giving utility companies twice as much time to remove lead piping from systems highly contaminated with lead. And Trump’s EPA diminished a portion of the Clean Water Act, clearing the way for federal agencies to provide permits for projects that don’t adhere to local water-quality requirements.
GHG
Carbon emissions dropped because of COVID-19. The drop is temporary.Sources AP/Slate/Time
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