On Earth Day, Trump Celebrates ‘Beautiful Forests, Lakes and Land’ as His Administration Threatens Beautiful Forests, Lakes and Land

Trump Called Climate Change A Hoax

The National Resource Defense Council Considers Trump’s Administration an “Assault on our Environment and Health”

As tens of thousands participated in the March for Science across the globe today, Donald Trump released an official statement on Earth Day.

“Our Nation is blessed with abundant natural resources and awe-inspiring beauty,” the statement reads. “Americans are rightly grateful for these God-given gifts and have an obligation to safeguard them for future generations.” 

“My Administration is committed to keeping our air and water clean,” it continues, “to preserving our forests, lakes, and open spaces, and to protecting endangered species.”

The president also echoed the statement in a tweet:

The National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) disagrees with the president’s sentiments, however. The NRDC, which combines the “power of more than two million members and online activists with the expertise of some 500 scientists, lawyers, and policy advocates across the globe,” considers the Trump administration an “assault on our environment and health… unlike any threat we’ve ever faced.”

Rhea Suh, president of the NRDC, discussed what’s at stake with the Trump administration’s stance on protecting the environment in the video below:

“The resources that we use today, we don’t inherit from our ancestors,” wildlife biologist and television host Jeff Corwin said on MSNBC. “We borrow from our children. And the Trump administration is preparing to rob the bank.” The full exchange can be seen below, with Irwin discussing the threats the administration poses to the environment, including endangered species:

Furthermore, Donald Trump appointed Scott Pruitt as the Head of the Environmental Protection Agency—an agency he spent years suing. Rick Perry, who said he wanted to abolish the Department of Energy, was appointed by Trump to be the Secretary of Energy.

As The Huffington Post pointed out, the Trump administration has repealed regulations protecting U.S. waterways from coal mining operations, signed an executive order aimed at dismantling the Clean Water Rule, removed regulations requiring oil and gas companies to detail the amount of greenhouse gases they emit, removed the word “science” from the EPA’s Office of Science and Technology mission statement, and proposed “deep and swinging cuts” to the EPA. (All of this, and more, as Earth reaches a CO2 level not seen in 3 million years.)

Arguably, the Trump administration’s actions are not surprising—considering that Donald Trump called climate change, which 97% of climate scientists agree is a result of human activity, a concept created “by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”

“This April 22nd, as we observe Earth Day,” the president’s statement concludes, “I hope that our Nation can come together and give thanks for the land we all love and call home.” (Trump did not make reference to the tens of thousands who were doing so today.)

 

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Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license