If you hadn't heard, the EPA recently withdrew an important regulation regarding pollution restrictions for companies around the country. With the policy removed, those companies now have new freedoms when it comes to how much they pollute, and for many this is a huge step backwards in the progress previously made in cleaning up our air. Now, normally I don't talk about current events in posts, as they become old news pretty quickly, but I feel this development not only ties well into the theme of energy I have been sustaining over the website for the past few weeks, but is extremely important to learn about, and will be a nice introduction into topics I have not yet discussed. So, let's dive in to what exactly the EPA is, what they're doing, and why their most recent action is something to pay attention to.
What is the EPA?
Created on December 2nd, 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency (or EPA) is a government agency made with the purpose of protecting human health and the environment. In order to accomplish this, they develop and enforce regulations, give grants, study environmental issues, work with business and organizations, teach others about the environment, and more. If you want to see a full list of everything the EPA does (or should be doing) check out this list here. Essentially, the organization was made to protect the environment, and in turn the people living in it. They are the ones responsible for creating policies and laws that protect nature in the United States.
And over the past forty years since its original creation, the EPA has been doing just that. While not always perfect, the administration has introduced helpful policies that limit not only the amount of pollution we release, but the overall effect we have on the environment. They have created laws to protect air, water, and much, much more, helping the United States to become a more environmentally friendly country. However, changes to the agency made over the past year are causing many to doubt its future.
What is the EPA doing now?
After the election of Donald Trump, the EPA has made some vast changes to the way they operate, both in their actions and how they run their government website. Under the newly appointed administrator of the agency, Scott Pruitt, the EPA has made various repeals to previously established regulations and laws that protected the environment. Additionally, they have made extreme changes to the EPA's website, going so far as to remove information about important environmental issues such as Climate Change. So far, their actions have not been extremely negative, but another recent repeal has many people worried about the future of our environment.
The Repeal
Yesterday (1/26/18), they repealed a vital policy regarding the classification of what are known as "major polluters"or sources that emit at least 10 tons of air pollutants each year. Under the previous policy, companies or organizations that surpassed this amount would be identified as major polluters, and would be considered so for the rest of the company's existence. Once a company had officially been deemed a major polluter, they would be held to strict regulations limiting the amount of pollution they were allowed to create. This "once-in, always-in" policy meant that companies would always have to limit their emissions, permanently reducing the amount of pollutants in the atmosphere.
This policy was also originally part of a larger act called the Clean Air Act, introduced by the EPA in order to protect and improve America's air quality. At the time of its introduction in 1990, many cities around the country were experiencing extreme troubles with air quality, in many cases causing health problems for the people living in or around them. However, after the introduction of the act, many of these problems are making strides towards being resolved, and the air in these areas has since improved drastically. This "once-in, always-in" policy was a large part of the long-standing act, and has since been repealed.
What does this mean?
Many of you are now probably wondering what this means, and what effects the decision will have in the future. It should first be stated that companies currently exceeding the 10 ton per year margin will still have to follow the previous regulations. That part of the policy remains. However, companies that went over it in the past, and have since dropped below it no longer have to. This means that, most likely, companies will aim to drop their emissions just below that 10 ton mark so they no longer have to follow the regulations. While this drop of emissions sounds good, in most cases the pollutants actually end up increasing, as the regulations the companies had to follow under the previous policy restricted emissions much more. This means that, if the companies are careful, they can increase their emissions without being punished for it.
And this is exactly the opposite of what we as a country need right now. If anything, companies should have to lower their emissions more, rather than being allowed to increase them. We have improved so much over the recent years, and can't afford to go back now. This repeal harms the people to benefit the companies by allowing them to release more harmful toxins into the atmosphere. And in the end, those toxins will come back to hurt everyone.
What does it mean for the future?
Judging by the course it seems to have set for itself in the past year, the EPA is likely to continue the harmful trend of repeals. If they removed this policy, who is to say they won't remove more from the Clean Air Act in the future? Scott Pruitt and the Trump Administration seem to be providing a lot of benefits to the industries in our country, without thinking about how it affects the rest of us. Sure, the companies don't have to worry about pollutants now, but what about the people waking up in smog covered streets everyday? These continued oversights are truly worrying, and it seems that they will only continue to be implemented.
Conclusion
If anything, the recent decisions made by the EPA shows that we as citizens need to pay more attention to what our government is doing. Elected and appointed officials should be representing the people, not sacrificing them for easy profit. These repeals don't benefit the American citizen, they hurt them and their families. And if our representatives aren't representing us, then it's time for the people to step up, take action, and make better decisions in the future. Our votes matter, so it's our responsibility to ensure the people we vote for actually have our best interests in mind. Because if they don't, then this downward spiral of poor decision-making will only continue.
All credit for information used in this post goes to:
https://www.countable.us/articles/2426-epa-ends-air-pollution-policy
https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/26/politics/epa-clean-air-act-policy/index.html
https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/clean-air-act-text
https://www3.epa.gov/airtoxics/pollsour.html
https://www.epa.gov/history
https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations
https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa
Images:
https://www.wired.com/2017/04/can-now-design-manual-made-epa-cool/
https://www.myheritage.org/news/stopping-the-epa-from-inflicting-harm-on-the-american-economy/
http://dailyadvisor.net/do-not-follow-where-the-path-may-lead-go-instead-where-there-is-no-path-and-leave-a-trail/
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/sep/02/climate-change-hunger-food-security-air-pollution
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Pruitt
https://health.usnews.com/health-care/patient-advice/articles/2017-05-02/the-link-between-air-pollution-and-lung-cancer
http://www.thecmmgroup.com/know-thy-enemy-hazardous-air-pollutants/
http://kgguide.blogspot.in/2013/03/pollution-types-of-pollution.html
http://jameelblr.blogspot.com/2012/03/protection-of-environment-statistics.html
https://www.cartoonmovement.com/cartoon/12439
https://act.credoaction.com/sign/EPA_Ozone?t=5&akid=13458.2525263.eKLkEP
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