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DonViejo

(60,536 posts) Sat Jun 16, 2018, 10:52 AM Jun 2018

A Breath of Bad Air: Cost of the Trump Environmental Agenda May Lead to 80K Extra Deaths per Decade

June 12, 2018
David Cutler, PhD1; Francesca Dominici, PhD2

JAMA. 2018;319(22):2261-2262. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.7351

President Donald Trump and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt have pledged to reexamine landmark environmental policies and to repeal regulations. In their view, excessive regulations are harming US industry, and thus reducing regulation will be good for business. As Donald Trump has said, seemingly without irony, “We are going to get rid of the regulations that are just destroying us. You can’t breathe—you cannot breathe.”

As has become apparent, however, it is the changes Trump is proposing that are likely to make breathing more difficult. A central feature of his agenda is environmental damage: making the air dirtier and exposing people to more toxic chemicals. The beneficiaries, in contrast, will be a relatively few well-connected companies.

The Trump Agenda

In pursuit of its wide-ranging environmental agenda, the administration has already reversed or proposed to reverse more than 60 environmental rules. The full extent of the effects on health has not been tabulated and is hard to quantify, but guesses can be made for some of the larger ones (see the Table).

The largest health consequences are likely to come through changes in air quality. The Trump administration has announced its intention to repeal the Clean Power Plan rule, President Barack Obama’s signature policy on climate change. The rule provides for the EPA to assign each state a goal for limiting emissions from existing power plants and gives the states latitude in meeting those goals, such as switching from coal to natural gas or building new wind or solar farms. Based on the regulatory impact analysis done by the EPA when the rule was implemented (as well as otheranalyses), repealing the rule would lead to an estimated 36 000 deaths each decade and nearly 630 000 cases of respiratory infection in children alone.

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https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2684596?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social_jama&utm_term=1585129396&utm_content=followers-article_engagement-image_stock&utm_campaign=article_alert&linkId=52856999

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A Breath of Bad Air: Cost of the Trump Environmental Agenda May Lead to 80K Extra Deaths per Decade (Original Post) DonViejo Jun 2018 OP

There is not even one deplorable who won't say "fake news" world wide wally Jun 2018 #1

take this out a few decades... lapfog_1 Jun 2018 #2

In Michigan a business man took over Flint water control duforsure Jun 2018 #3

I think as a society, we should start jailing business people that harm society because they cut Blue_true Jun 2018 #5

I was a boy during the time when my dad or mom drove down a road and I could see and smell fumes Blue_true Jun 2018 #4

world wide wally

(21,744 posts)

1. There is not even one deplorable who won't say "fake news"

Reply to DonViejo (Original post)

Sat Jun 16, 2018, 11:10 AM

Jun 2018

Not even one

lapfog_1

(29,205 posts)

2. take this out a few decades...

Reply to DonViejo (Original post)

Sat Jun 16, 2018, 12:47 PM

Jun 2018

include the deaths from increasing violent storms due to global warming, etc

and this number is laughably low.

duforsure

(11,885 posts)

3. In Michigan a business man took over Flint water control

Reply to DonViejo (Original post)

Sat Jun 16, 2018, 01:35 PM

Jun 2018

Then he started trying to cut corners causing their water system to be destroyed. Now we have a corrupt business man trying to do that to this country on its air , water , and anything else they can skimp on to destroy it for profits. This will be very costly in lives lost from this.

Blue_true

(31,261 posts)

5. I think as a society, we should start jailing business people that harm society because they cut

Reply to duforsure (Reply #3)

Sat Jun 16, 2018, 01:47 PM

Jun 2018

corners. That they did not intend to do harm should not be an acceptable defense. We should look at the harm that they DID DO and fine and jail them accordingly.

Blue_true

(31,261 posts)

4. I was a boy during the time when my dad or mom drove down a road and I could see and smell fumes

Reply to DonViejo (Original post)

Sat Jun 16, 2018, 01:42 PM

Jun 2018

from cars and trucks. Today such fumes are very uncommon, I see and smell them, but they are uncommon. Businesses that cater to Trump's and Pruitt's attack on the environment are being very shortsighted, it will cost them dearly in the long run, some will even go out of business. One thing that I think that I know about human beings from observing, is that people never go back to worse times and act like that is ok, there will be repercussions for the companies that fall for the trap that Trump is setting for them.

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