Climate expert Bill Becker writes here about the state of America’s air, and Trump’s rollback of regulations to improve its quality.
He writes:
Our air still is not as clean and healthy as it could be, or should be. The most recent “State of the Air” report from the American Lung Association (ALA) includes the sobering fact that nearly half of the American people live in places where it is still dangerous to breathe. Between 2016 and 2018, air quality has actually gotten worse. Over those three years, “millions more Americans were living in communities impacted by unhealthy levels of pollution in the form of more unhealthy ozone days, more particle pollution days and higher annual particle levels.”
Nearly 46% of us (that’s about 150 million people) live in counties with unhealthy levels of those pollutants. Ozone and particulates contribute to a variety of potentially deadly lung-related problems including asthma, heart disease, lung cancer and the basic functions of the lungs. Like so many other problems, from COVID-19 to the deadly consequences of climate change, people of color and low-income families suffer most…
The Trump administration…has significantly weakened enforcement of the Clean Air Act. Trump killed the rules the Obama Administration created to limit emissions from power plants and to make vehicles more efficient. Trump’s weakening of vehicle efficiency standards is expected to allow cars and trucks to emit a billion more tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide. Since President Trump took office, his administration has rolled back 27 regulations to limit air pollution, part of the 100 environmental safeguards it has reversed, revoked, or weakened. Most recently, the Administration is taking steps to stop counting the health benefits of enforcing the Clean Air Act, a move that policy experts and environmentalists say will make it harder to justify federal limits on air pollution.
To make matters worse, Trump has stopped all progress in the nation’s effort to limit climate change at the same time he is helping oil, gas and coal companies increase production of the fuels responsible for global warming and the air pollution described by the ALA.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Clean air is a common good. Exploitive capitalists seek to destroy or steal common goods.
There’s more to Sinclair Lewis’ thinking about how fascism would claim the U.S.-wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross. He said, “The worst fascists were those who disowned the word fascism and preached enslavement to capitalism….”
A major threat to the country is the “cross” segment that promotes Charles Koch’s message.
There is a BP Oil refinery not very far from my condo. BP added equipment fairly recently to process tar sands filthy oil from Canada.
I went to their plant a few years back for a protest. The air was so filthy that I could hardly breath once I got out of the car. BP is buying up the homes surrounding their refinery. I don’t know how those people exist.
We also get air from Chicago and a steel refinery near me.
The air in NW Indiana was declared by the American Lung Association in 2013 to be 16th most polluted in the nation.
Nothing ever gets done…we’re a state run by Republicans who continuously brag about what great progress they are making on everything.
I have four air purifiers running 24/7 in my condo.
Nothing is going to be done about all the pollution (air, water, plastic, pesticides, etc) in this nation and the world until the health of our planet becomes more important than the all mighty dollar. Money is more important than people, animals, plants — life in general. What a waste we so called humans have made of the third rock from the Sun. We are daily creating the apocalypse as described in the book of Revelation and illustrated by Dante’s “Inferno”.
Typically dump.
trumpsy DUMPSY is a pig. He never picks up after himself. Why would he even notice or care about pollution?
I wonder if he wipes his butt?
Sad, but not surprising to know the extent of the Trump Administration’s impact on the climate. Despite the discouraging news, there are positive, impactful things happening specifically in schools around our country. Our organization, the Green Schools National Network, is working diligently to showcase these shining examples and provide support to accelerate green, healthy, sustainability focused initiatives in the K-12 learning environment. We can, together, provide a world that our great, great grandchildren will thrive within.
How many degrees of separation are there between GSNN and Bill Gates?
The site doesn’t list funders but, it does have bio’s of the board (are they all white?). The Executive director “…Common Core standards with Next Generation Science Standards”.
Another board member, “founded Environmental Charter Schools” in California.
Bio for Environmental Charter Schools principal- in-residence – “Keynote Speaker at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s….” He believes access to high quality ed opportunities in the community are a civil right.
ECS COO’s bio- graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
ECS Board President- graduate of Notre Dame
Linda – The Green Schools National Network gets $0 from Bill Gates. We have a small, but diverse staff. We work with K-12 schools (including districts and individual schools) around the nation, most of which are Title 1 designated. Recognizing that education for unsustainability dominates much of the K-12 U.S. educational system, we are striving to significantly shift that trend. 90% of our funding comes directly as fee for service from partner schools that are using us to help them transform or accelerate their good work.
D. DenHartog-
Diane’s post about Bill Gates Aug. 27- good reading.
WHEN WILL YOU TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS? NEVER.