People vs. Pollution

For more than 16 years, the EPA had a legal (and ethical) obligation to protect American families from climate pollution — protections that prevented disease, disaster, and death. 

Donald Trump’s EPA threw out decades of accepted science that allows the government to protect people from toxic pollution — clearly telling our families: We’ll let you get sicker and ensure you pay more for health care, as long as corporations can profit. 

Climate and fossil fuel pollution already cost us more than $820 billion per year in health care costs. Reversing the government’s legal obligation to protect us from pollution will cost $4.7 trillion and cause an additional 77,000 premature deaths by 2055.

The Endangerment Finding is the basis for so many other policies that protect our clean air and water, and reversing it means giving free rein to corporations that only care about their own bottom line — not the communities their actions will harm and the damage they will cause. Without these protections, corporations across industries can pollute with abandon, causing health problems and speeding up the climate crisis. 

Decades of research show that pollution puts our families’ health and safety at risk, from higher rates of asthma to heat strokes and unpredictable, dangerous extreme weather falling on our communities. 

Trump allies call it a near “total victory” against climate change policies, but decades of research show that pollution puts our families’ health and safety at risk. Every American pays the price in higher health care costs, dirtier air, and more dangerous heat, storms, and floods.