Article Summary –
A second Trump term under Project 2025 could endanger American public health by rolling back environmental and food regulations, potentially increasing pollution and toxic chemical exposure. The plan includes downgrading PFAS reclassification, cutting scientific research funding, and repealing nutrition labeling mandates, causing significant health risks and environmental damage.
Far-Right Plans for Trump Term Will Threaten Americans’ Health and Environment
Energy, environmental, and food policies in Project 2025 would harm Americans’ health. The nearly 1000-page plan for a second Trump term aims to roll back regulations for government industries and offers incentives for corporate offenders across major sectors.
Some of the most harmful environmental proposals in Project 2025 are hidden in bureaucratic directives. For example, the plan suggests downgrading the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) upcoming reclassification of PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances) as hazardous.
PFAS, known as forever chemicals, are man-made substances used in plastics and household goods. Difficult to destroy and widespread in landfills and homes, PFAS are linked to many fatal diseases.
A recent study found over 200 million Americans may have PFAS in their drinking water. Reversing the reclassification would allow corporations to continue producing and dumping these toxic chemicals. Lead pipe removal would slow drastically, extending the risk for minority and low-income communities.
Project 2025 also proposes cutting funding for scientific research and public awareness, including the Integrated Risk Information System and the National Weather Service. This would hinder studies on climate change and cancer-causing chemicals.
Americans’ right to eat healthy food would also suffer. Big agriculture and food companies aim to continue selling ultra-processed, chemically altered foods. Project 2025 would weaken the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), undoing regulations and labeling mandates.
Repealing the labeling mandate would bring back misleading health information, making it hard for consumers to avoid allergens, unhealthy fats, and undesirable chemicals.
Polluting the Air Would Increase Premature Deaths
Project 2025 opposes new regulations reshaping the energy sector. Canceling Democratic energy policies like the Inflation Reduction Act would spike pollutants, causing 6,000 premature deaths in 2030 and 25,400 annually by 2050. The US Energy Policy Simulator, using EPA data, assessed these outcomes based on emissions from coal, gasoline, and natural gas.
The EPA model links pollutants to asthma, COPD, and other respiratory diseases. Following Project 2025’s plan would increase asthma attacks by 167,000 annually by 2030 and 771,000 by 2050, with hospitalizations rising by 3,000 by 2030 and 14,600 by 2050.
Orvis from EITP explains that health damages grow over time due to increasing emissions from fossil fuels versus clean energy. Project 2025 would repeal incentives and regulations, weaken the EPA, encourage dirty energy, and open public lands to oil drilling.
The report only partially assesses Project 2025’s environmental and public health impacts, foreboding many damaging policies prioritizing corporate profit over public safety.
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