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For Immediate Release
Contact: Email:,communications@environmentamerica.org

Environment America Response to 2018 State of the Union

President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address touched on a lot of topics crucial to the United States' environment and its public health. Ironically, while the President crowed that, "we have ended the war on American energy and we have ended the war on beautiful clean coal," we all know that there's no such thing as clean coal. And he failed to discuss the things all Americans need to be clean: water, air, and renewable energy sources.

WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address touched on a lot of topics crucial to the United States' environment and its public health. Ironically, while the President crowed that, "we have ended the war on American energy and we have ended the war on beautiful clean coal," we all know that there's no such thing as clean coal. And he failed to discuss the things all Americans need to be clean: water, air, and renewable energy sources. It's no surprise, since the EPA and Department of Energy have spent most of Trump's first year rolling back regulations that keep us all safe and healthy. As Joe Kennedy said in the Democratic party rebuttal, it's "an all-out war on environmental protection."

Clean Energy

It's foolhardy to prop up outdated, polluting and unnecessary energy sources that pollute our water and air. Renewable energy and the technologies that enable it are growing faster than most people ever imagined; with more and more of our energy needs being met with pollution-free energy which has no fuel costs. In the past decade, we've seen 20-fold growth in solar and 7-fold growth in wind power. We should give Americans what they want by building on this tremendous progress with a commitment toward promoting energy savings, clean energy and energy storage technologies.

"We wish the President would not act like a cheerleader for outdated dirty fuels like coal while putting the brakes on clean, renewable energy like solar & wind," said Environment America's Clean Energy Director Rob Sargent. "Renewable energy is virtually unlimited and pollution-free, protecting our communities from global warming and other harmful pollution. America needs a rapid transition to clean, renewable energy and we're asking our leaders to get on board."

Global Warming

One of the keys to getting our leaders on board is having them to acknowledge what the Trump Administration itself admitted last fall -- that global warming is real, and caused by humans.

Global warming is one of the most serious issues facing our nation. Coal is not clean. It is the dirtiest fossil fuel and turbocharges global warming. We need to transition to clean, renewable energy.

"During the first year of the Trump Administration, communities around the nation faced hardship and devastation from extreme storms, flooding, mudslides, and wildfires, made worse by global warming," said Environment America's Senior Director of Global Warming Solutions, Andrea McGimsey. "We call on the president and cabinet to seriously respond to this urgent issue and to get to work on reducing global warming pollution. Rolling back the Clean Car Standards, the Clean Power Plan, and other critical federal programs that reduce our reliance on fossil fuels will undermine the security and stability of our communities. The future of a strong nation lies squarely in the clean energy and clean transportation revolutions. In contrast to the lack of action at the federal level, we can look to the states where strong bipartisan progress is being made on cutting global warming pollution."

With Environment America, you protect the places that all of us love and promote core environmental values, such as clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and clean energy to power our lives. We're a national network of 29 state environmental groups with members and supporters in every state. Together, we focus on timely, targeted action that wins tangible improvements in the quality of our environment and our lives.

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