Jonathon Berman, jonathon.berman@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC -- Clearly, the growing public momentum for climate action across the aisle has made clear to the Trump campaign that their climate denial is a major vulnerability. Late yesterday, it was reported that after spending much of his first two years in office attacking and rolling back bedrock climate and environmental safeguards and enabling corporate polluters to the detriment of the health and safety of the American people, Donald Trump is seeking opportunities to claim he’s a climate action champion in 2020. Then, just hours later, Trump, who has not publicly accepted climate science, outrageously lied by claiming climate solutions like wind turbines cause cancer.
Trump’s rhetoric and his record proves he won’t be able to dig himself out of the hole he’s dug on climate, and they show that the true health threats come from Trump’s dangerous embrace of fossil fuels.
The lowlights of Trump’s anti-climate, anti-public health record include:
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Seeking to abandon the Paris Climate Agreement
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Appointing fossil fuel lobbyists to head the EPA and Interior Department
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Rolling back the Clean Power Plan
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Scrapping the Coal Ash Rule
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Rolling back the Clean Water Rule
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Rolling back the methane standards
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Repeatedly seeking to bail out coal executives and their uneconomic plants
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Rolling back the Mercury and Air Toxins Rule
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Proposing to roll back the clean car standards
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Slow walking or completely refusing to adequately act on per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals
While Trump spreads lies about clean, renewable energy his administration has threatened the drinking water for a third of the country, potentially put millions upon millions of people at risk for cancer, and increased the risk of hundreds of deaths per year. At the same time, the Trump administration seeks to expand oil and gas operations to every stretch of our public lands and waters, more communities will be put at risk for cancer as well. In Colorado, a report found that those living within 500 feet of oil and gas operations face a cancer risk rate eight times higher than average Americans.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:
“Donald Trump is the worst President in history for our climate and our environment, and his attempt to say otherwise is an outright lie. His Administration is fighting tooth and nail to roll back some of the most important climate action policies in history, like the Clean Power Plan, the clean car standards, and the methane rule. He’s tried bailing out coal billionaires and their failing plants with taxpayer dollars. He’s pushed to drill anywhere and everywhere. And he’s repeatedly peddled lies about clean energy and even the existence of climate change. If Trump is looking to show off climate victories, he could start by reversing every single action taken and proposal he’s put forward.
“The American people want climate action, and they want leaders who will put their health, their communities, and their futures first. But, once again, Donald Trump is tilting at windmills rather than tackling the climate crisis.
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Paid for by Sierra Club Political Committee, www.sierraclub.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.