Ahead of Trump Address, Grijalva Calls Push to Defund Environmental Agencies “Immoral,” Points to Likely Climate Quality Impacts

Washington, D.C. – Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva today said the Trump administration’s widely reported intention to slash the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget and foreign assistance to pay for what President Trump last week called “one of the greatest military buildups in American history” is more proof that Trump has lost his moral authority as a national leader.

“Only someone with no concern for the future sees our environment as a source of money for more bloated military contracts,” Grijalva said. “However President Trump chooses to explain himself tonight, the message will be the same: I’d rather buy warships than make sure we have clean air and clean water. His decision to manufacture and then resolve this false choice in favor of polluters and military contractors is immoral and indefensible.”

The cuts, Grijalva said, will accomplish the environmental deregulation demanded by major donors that the Republican majority in Congress is not courageous enough to debate in public through legislation. Among other impacts, as commentators have already noted, the cuts could drastically curtail the agency’s work to limit the worsening effects of climate change, a phenomenon Trump calls a hoax invented by the Chinese.

“President Trump’s vision is a nation forever at war without allies – a nation of uninsured invalids, paying for bottled water and suffering increased rates of asthma and cancer, surrounded by a ridiculous wall and gold-plated aircraft carriers,” Grijalva said.

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