Dear Editor,
In response to some of the lieutenant governor candidates who responded to a moderator question in last Tuesday’s vpt/vpr debate by expressing support for Donald Trump’s economic policies, I offer these pertinent facts. After three years in office his administration has dismantled most of the major environmental protective policies as the basis for their economic programs. Trump has appointed former business industry executives and lobbyists to government department leadership roles to spearhead the moves that have weakened the protections for clean air, clean water, clean soil, and clean food.
The bulk of the rollbacks have been carried out by the now ironically named Environmental Protection Agency, which has repealed and weakened power plant and vehicle emission standards, wetlands and forest protections, and chemical production safety guidelines.
At the same time the Department of the Interior has opened up more public land for destructive oil and gas drilling by undesignating wilderness areas and endangered species.
All told the Trump administration’s environmental rollbacks will significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions, negatively impact air, water, soil, and food quality, and in the long run lead to increased diseases and deaths for the American public from the resulting toxic pollution. That’s the bottom line for this disastrous method for creating jobs and income for the populace.
Ralph Corbo, Wallingford
