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A new AP report warns of the significant health and environmental consequences of the Trump administration rolling back key fossil fuel regulations. (Photo: Danicek/Shutterstock)
A new Associated Press analysis shows that while the Trump administration's deregulation of the fossil fuel industry is likely to save oil and gas companies billions of dollars, the cost in terms of human death and suffering as a result of the environmental devastation will be incalculable.
"Tell me Donald. Exactly how much is a human life being sold for?"
--Joda Latour
While the report, published Sunday, estimates that the fossil fuel industry could save up to $11.6 billion, other consequences include up to 1,400 more premature deaths per year, a jump of about a billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions that will further warm the planet, increased risk of water contamination, and fewer safety checks to prevent oil spills.
The study comes as scientists warn with mounting urgency that the global community must rapidly phase out fossil fuels to avert catastrophic global warming, and as people around the world are intensifying their demands for bold climate action.
The administration has targeted nearly 80 environmental rules, according to a New York Times investigation published last month, but the AP study focused on the impacts of efforts to rescind or scale back 11 specific regulations:
While the rollbacks analyzed are at different stages of implementation--five are pending and six are final--environmental and consumer advocacy groups have launched various legal challenges, citing the public and planetary health risks that many, including University of Chicago professor Michael Greenstone, a top economist for the Obama administration, claim federal agencies are understating.
"When you start fudging the numbers, it's not that the costs just evaporate into thin air. We will pay," Greenstone told the AP. "They are reducing the costs for industries where pollution is a byproduct."
The AP report sparked outrage online, with one Twitter user concluding, "Trump is letting his corporate friends wreck the planet and our health."
\u201cTrump is letting his corporate friends wreck the planet and our health: https://t.co/sYG5yTZnfQ\u201d— fey and stranger (@fey and stranger) 1548663368
@realDonaldTrump is willing to sell people's health and lives to #bigoil and gas so that the rich can get richer.
Tell me Donald. Exactly how much is a human life being sold for?Trump rollbacks for fossil fuel industries carry steep cost https://t.co/kksOl15LCe
-- Joda Latour (@jodalatour) January 28, 2019
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
A new Associated Press analysis shows that while the Trump administration's deregulation of the fossil fuel industry is likely to save oil and gas companies billions of dollars, the cost in terms of human death and suffering as a result of the environmental devastation will be incalculable.
"Tell me Donald. Exactly how much is a human life being sold for?"
--Joda Latour
While the report, published Sunday, estimates that the fossil fuel industry could save up to $11.6 billion, other consequences include up to 1,400 more premature deaths per year, a jump of about a billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions that will further warm the planet, increased risk of water contamination, and fewer safety checks to prevent oil spills.
The study comes as scientists warn with mounting urgency that the global community must rapidly phase out fossil fuels to avert catastrophic global warming, and as people around the world are intensifying their demands for bold climate action.
The administration has targeted nearly 80 environmental rules, according to a New York Times investigation published last month, but the AP study focused on the impacts of efforts to rescind or scale back 11 specific regulations:
While the rollbacks analyzed are at different stages of implementation--five are pending and six are final--environmental and consumer advocacy groups have launched various legal challenges, citing the public and planetary health risks that many, including University of Chicago professor Michael Greenstone, a top economist for the Obama administration, claim federal agencies are understating.
"When you start fudging the numbers, it's not that the costs just evaporate into thin air. We will pay," Greenstone told the AP. "They are reducing the costs for industries where pollution is a byproduct."
The AP report sparked outrage online, with one Twitter user concluding, "Trump is letting his corporate friends wreck the planet and our health."
\u201cTrump is letting his corporate friends wreck the planet and our health: https://t.co/sYG5yTZnfQ\u201d— fey and stranger (@fey and stranger) 1548663368
@realDonaldTrump is willing to sell people's health and lives to #bigoil and gas so that the rich can get richer.
Tell me Donald. Exactly how much is a human life being sold for?Trump rollbacks for fossil fuel industries carry steep cost https://t.co/kksOl15LCe
-- Joda Latour (@jodalatour) January 28, 2019
A new Associated Press analysis shows that while the Trump administration's deregulation of the fossil fuel industry is likely to save oil and gas companies billions of dollars, the cost in terms of human death and suffering as a result of the environmental devastation will be incalculable.
"Tell me Donald. Exactly how much is a human life being sold for?"
--Joda Latour
While the report, published Sunday, estimates that the fossil fuel industry could save up to $11.6 billion, other consequences include up to 1,400 more premature deaths per year, a jump of about a billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions that will further warm the planet, increased risk of water contamination, and fewer safety checks to prevent oil spills.
The study comes as scientists warn with mounting urgency that the global community must rapidly phase out fossil fuels to avert catastrophic global warming, and as people around the world are intensifying their demands for bold climate action.
The administration has targeted nearly 80 environmental rules, according to a New York Times investigation published last month, but the AP study focused on the impacts of efforts to rescind or scale back 11 specific regulations:
While the rollbacks analyzed are at different stages of implementation--five are pending and six are final--environmental and consumer advocacy groups have launched various legal challenges, citing the public and planetary health risks that many, including University of Chicago professor Michael Greenstone, a top economist for the Obama administration, claim federal agencies are understating.
"When you start fudging the numbers, it's not that the costs just evaporate into thin air. We will pay," Greenstone told the AP. "They are reducing the costs for industries where pollution is a byproduct."
The AP report sparked outrage online, with one Twitter user concluding, "Trump is letting his corporate friends wreck the planet and our health."
\u201cTrump is letting his corporate friends wreck the planet and our health: https://t.co/sYG5yTZnfQ\u201d— fey and stranger (@fey and stranger) 1548663368
@realDonaldTrump is willing to sell people's health and lives to #bigoil and gas so that the rich can get richer.
Tell me Donald. Exactly how much is a human life being sold for?Trump rollbacks for fossil fuel industries carry steep cost https://t.co/kksOl15LCe
-- Joda Latour (@jodalatour) January 28, 2019