After spending his first two years in office rolling back water, air, and emissions regulations, President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to deliver a speech Monday touting "his administration's environmental leadership."
The Guardian reported Wednesday that Trump "plans to go on the offensive against criticism of his industry-friendly rollbacks of environment protections" in an address at the White House next week.
According to The Guardian:
Trump will tout America's clean air and water, although his administration has advanced many efforts that experts say have undercut the country's environmental record.
Jonathan Watts, global environmental editor for The Guardian, said Trump's planned remarks are "straight out of Orwell."
New playbook is straight out of Orwell: Trump to claim US is environmental leader in spite of ripping up protections. Follows Bolsonaro claiming Brazil has much to teach Europe on conservation.
https://t.co/zu2BboF80p— jonathanwatts (@jonathanwatts) July 4, 2019
Trump has repeatedly said U.S. air and water are the "cleanest" they have ever been thanks to his administration.
But according to an Associated Press analysis published last month, there "were noticeably more polluted air days each year in the president's first two years in office than any of the four years before."
"There were 15 percent more days with unhealthy air in America both last year and the year before than there were on average from 2013 through 2016, the four years when America had its fewest number of those days since at least 1980," the AP reported.
The U.S. also does not have the cleanest water in the world, despite Trump's claim to the contrary. As Vox reported last month, "While the latest Environmental Performance Index indicates that the U.S. is tied with nine other countries for cleanest drinking water, when sanitation is also factored in, the US drops to 29th overall."
Since taking office in 2017, Trump has worked at the behest of the oil and gas industry to kill environmental rules designed to reduce carbon emissions and prevent pollution of the nation's air and water.
In an analysis last month, the New York Times counted "more than 80 environmental rules and regulations on the way out under Mr. Trump."
"All told, the Trump administration's environmental rollbacks could significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions," the Times reported, "and lead to thousands of extra deaths from poor air quality every year."
