 |
| Trump's cuts will be more devastating than I thought! |
This is’t a ‘worst-case scenario’ anymore: Trump has made his proposed budget public.1 As expected, the cuts are reckless
Trump wants to cut a whopping $57 billion from critical domestic programs — starving communities of resources needed to thrive and slashing critical environmental protections — all in order to spend even more on defense contractors and military buildup abroad.
The good news: Trump's proposal is far from final. It's up to Congress to pass a final budget — and that's still months away. We MUST react quickly to show how outrageous Trump's plan really is: Tell your members of Congress to reject Trump's anti-American agenda.
Trump's proposed budget is hundreds of pages long, and there's a lot of bad stuff in there. Here are five of the very worst components:
1 - Trump wants to gut the EPA protections. The Environmental Protection Agency was created to enforce laws like the Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Air Act that save countless lives every year — but Trump is doing everything he can to cripple the agency's ability to do its job. He wants to cut staff (including career scientists), dismantle key programs like the Environmental Justice enforcement program, end grants to states for issues like lead poisoning, eliminate regional water cleanup efforts and slash funding for enforcement activities.
2 - Trump wants to cut renewable energy. Jobs in renewable energy are outpacing fossil fuels by nearly 4 to 1 — yet Trump wants to cut renewable energy and energy efficiency by 70% in the federal budget.2 Investing in renewable energy is not just cost effective, it will create jobs, improve public health and help us prevent the unpredictable and dangerous impacts of climate change. We absolutely cannot let Trump grant the fossil fuel industry their number one wish. Our planet is out of time — we must move America OFF fossil fuels immediately.
3 - Trump wants to put Wall Street in charge of our nation's water systems. While infrastructure investment is desperately needed in our country, Trump’s budget would rely on private financing, which has a nasty track record of costing taxpayers more money than publicly run infrastructure. What we actually need is dedicated, national funding for our infrastructure – like the WATER Act.
4 - Trump wants to cut food stamps by $193 billion and cut food safety staff. Almost 44 million people received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) assistance in 2016, meaning that cuts to this program would affect tens of millions of people and make it harder for them to get the food they need.3 Trump's budget would also cut funding for the Food and Drug Administration's food safety program, including reducing staff levels, and would cut funding for the Centers for Disease Control, which tracks and responds to foodborne illness outbreaks.
5 - Trump wants to end reporting on carbon emissions and cut climate programs. In doing so, Trump would devastate progress we’ve made on limiting climate change pollution. And his plans to end programs designed to lower greenhouse gas emissions is a nod to the oil and gas industry — an industry to which his cabinet has disturbingly close ties.4
It's up to us — people across the country with a direct line to our members of Congress — to demand they REJECT Trump's plans.
We still have time, but you need to act now: Send a strong message today to oppose Trump's dangerous budget!
Miranda Carter
Food & Water Watch
act.fwwatch.org
1. Trump proposes dramatic changes to federal government, slashing safety net programs that affect up to a fifth of Americans, Washington Post, May 23, 2017.
2. Solar Employs More People In U.S. Electricity Generation Than Oil, Coal And Gas Combined, Forbes, January 25, 2017.
3. Trump to propose big cuts to safety net in new budget, slashing Medicaid and opening door to other limits,Washington Post, May 21, 2017.
4. Trump's Budget Slashes Climate Change Funding, NPR, March 16, 2017.
2. Solar Employs More People In U.S. Electricity Generation Than Oil, Coal And Gas Combined, Forbes, January 25, 2017.
3. Trump to propose big cuts to safety net in new budget, slashing Medicaid and opening door to other limits,Washington Post, May 21, 2017.
4. Trump's Budget Slashes Climate Change Funding, NPR, March 16, 2017.
I have to admit, I am reeling! This is more devastating than I thought!
ReplyDeleteI knew that Trump wanted to gut the EPA protections and end reporting on carbon emissions and cut climate programs. That would be devastating enough. But even though jobs in renewable energy are outpacing fossil fuels by nearly 4 to 1 — Trump wants to cut renewable energy and energy efficiency by 70% in the federal budget. What a huge gift to his billionaire fossil fuel industry friends! But what really hurts me personally, and the many other people who are fighting to protect our water, is that Trump wants to put Wall Street in charge of our nation's water systems. As big oil and coal deplete our ground water, imagine how the price of our water will skyrocket! Imagine how "profit without responsibility" (and no regulations) will affect our water!