Since Inauguration Day, Donald Trump has been dramatically out-of-step with American voters when it comes to environment and public health issues. His efforts to dismantle environmental and public health protections, to sell off our public lands to oil and gas corporations, and to abandon U.S. leadership on climate change have certainly not improved his record-low job approval numbers. At every turn, Trump has demonstrated to the American people that he is willing to protect special interests at the expense of public health and a healthy environment for future generations.
Trump is out-of-step with the American people on many important issues, but I’d like to take a look at a few glaring environmental examples from his first year in office:
Withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement in June 2017 was an early signal to the world that global leadership in protecting the planet from climate change would not come from the United States with Trump in office. Reaction to Trump’s announcement was swift and negative both at home and abroad. In May, a national survey of registered voters by the Yale Program on Climate Change revealed that 61% of voters wanted Trump to do more to address “global warming,” including majorities of independents and nearly half of moderate and liberal Republicans. A June poll by Reuters/Ipsos found that 72% of Americans felt that the “United States should take aggressive action to slow global warming,” and 68% felt that the U.S. should lead global efforts to slow climate change. Also in June, a Washington Post / ABC News poll showed that six in ten Americans opposed withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement.
On October 9, 2017, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt announced that the Trump administration was planning to repeal the Clean Power Plan. Since its inception, the Clean Power Plan has been incredibly popular with the American public, which understands its positive impact on public health and the environment. Back in 2014, the Sierra Club released polling that showed seven-in-ten U.S. voters supported the EPA putting limits on the amount of carbon pollution that power plants can release. And broad and strong public support for the Clean Power Plan has endured. One month after the 2016 general elections, a survey by Hart Research found that two-in-three Americans who cast a vote in the election said they would oppose any effort by the Trump administration to take away the EPA’s ability to limit carbon pollution from power plants. This included nearly half of Trump voters (47%). But, of course, Trump and his cabinet disregarded public will.
Trump’s 2018 budget proposal, which he first unveiled in May, is one of the clearest example of how far his vision deviates from what Americans actually want and value. It included massive cuts to policies and programs that protect our health, public lands, and climate in the name of corporate profit. And polling released in August by the Natural Resources Defense Council found that many of those cuts were unpopular with the public. The survey, which was conducted by the well-known Republican firm American Viewpoint, revealed that 75% of voters believed the government already spends too little (50%) or just the right amount (25%) when it comes to protecting the environment. And, by a 22-point margin, American voters opposed the budget’s proposal to slash funding for the EPA by 30 percent (59% oppose vs. 37% support). A majority of voters were also opposed to Trump leasing some public lands and oceans to private corporations to expand drilling and fracking.
These positions, among others, have done nothing to help Trump’s record-low approval numbers. According to Quinnipiac’s latest national survey (conducted from January 5 through 9), 59% of American voters disapprove of how Trump is handling his job as president, while just 36% approve. Moreover, nearly two in three voters (65%) believe that President Trump does not share their values. Trump receives some of his lowest scores for his handling (or lack thereof) of the environment. According to a November poll by Quinnipiac, nearly six in ten voters (59%) disapprove of the way Trump is handling the environment, while just 34% approve (most of them Republican voters).
Frustrated with Trump's position on environmental issues, Americans are increasingly looking for local leadership on climate solutions and clean energy. For example, the University of Michigan and Muhlenberg College have reported that two in three American adults (66%) agree that "if the federal government fails to address the issue of global warming, it is my state's responsibility to address the problem." And many state leaders, local communities, and business leaders across the country are indeed taking matters into their own hands. From cities, towns, and businesses committing to 100% clean energy to 389 mayors (representing 68 million Americans) pledging to uphold the Paris climate agreement, Americans are resisting Trump’s extreme anti-environment agenda.