America exists to serve Donald Trump’s priorities now – even at the cost of young children

Donald Trump has been very adamant that one of his top priorities is to revive coal-fired power plants. The Environmentalist Protection Agency had previously limited how much mercury and toxins they could emit into the environment, but the administration has just recently loosened those limits.

In recent high-profile addresses to the public, most famously at the 80th United Nations General Assembly, Trump has emphasized that under his tenure he intends to remove the US from global climate policies. The president personally pointed to Russia and China, claiming that their air is “filthy,” and that it ultimately flows into American airspace and makes the US air dirty too.

Trump has dismissed climate change concerns overall as the “greatest con job ever perpetrated.” Even before he got into power, he insisted that the entire thing was a hoax. Recently, he even posted on Truth Social, joking that if the climate were actually changing, then it shouldn’t still be that cold during winter.

Trump has taken actions throughout this time to ensure that his assessment of the climate crisis places the US in an irreversible position within the geopolitical landscape. The administration exited the Paris Agreement for a second time. He also recently issued an executive order regarding the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), notifying them that the US is exiting all the agreements it previously had.

Stateside, the administration is continuing to scale back limits intended to reduce the adverse effects of emissions caused by the energy industry. EPA Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi released a statement saying, “The Trump EPA’s action follows the rule of law and will reduce the cost of generating baseload power, lowering costs and improving reliability for consumers.”

But there are more aspects to consider than just cost. According to NBC, toxic emissions from coal- and oil-fired plants have the potential to harm the brain development of young children. In other cases, they can also cause heart attacks and other respiratory problems in adults.

The emissions from power plants also play a significant role in greenhouse gas–driven climate change. The EPA did not address these direct health concerns when it announced its plans at a coal plant on the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky.

Coal-fired plants still remain the largest single source of human-caused mercury pollution. When power plants release mercury into the atmosphere, it tends to mix with clouds and eventually comes back down in the form of rain, making its way into the food chain through fish or other vegetation that humans consume.

Environmental groups have said that the tightened rules that were just rolled back actually saved lives and benefited people who lived near coal plants by making them healthier. The previous rules existed to give coal companies limits on how they could conduct their business without harming surrounding communities. Think of it like a speed limit, but for the environment. The Trump administration is only worried about profits.

Make America Healthy Again was just a slogan, after all.