When efforts were made to address acid rain in the original Clear Air Act, dire consequences were predicted. Industry experts tallied up associated costs that ran well into the billions, and predictions were made that electricity would become too expensive for many Americans. Similar predictions were made about automobiles when new rules were put in place to reduce emissions. Every time there is an attempt to rein in pollution, it’s a sure bet that someone will be standing by to have a scary price tag. But what never seems to get mentioned is the cost of not addressing these issues. Particulates from power plants generate everything from asthma to cancer. Emissions from all sources don’t just devastate wildlife and the environment, they generate lost work, healthcare costs, and missed opportunities. In 2016, the estimated cost of pollution was $4.6 trillion a year, and every dollar spent in the U.S. addressing issues of pollution had generated over $23 dollars in return.
Since Donald Trump took charge, deregulation has been the name of the game on every front. And, of course, the results of this deregulation are described as “savings.” Because they absolutely do provide additional profits to the companies creating pollution. This is particularly true on climate change, where the supposed benefits of deregulation have been very much exaggerated, while the cost of failing to act has been continuously undervalued.
For companies involved in pollution of any type—whether that’s expelling greenhouse gases or manufacturing plastics—the “nice” thing about the way the United States treats their industries is that the real costs of their actions are externalized. That is, Duke Energy doesn’t pay the healthcare bills for children whose air is full of asthma-inducing particles, or for expectant mothers whose fish is filled with mercury, or for whole towns downstream from the coal ash sludge that builds up around their plants. Those cost are externalized. Everyone pays them.
On the other hand, when Trump tells utilities that they can burn more, inspect less, and turn off expensive devices meant to regulate emissions, those savings go straight to the company’s bottom line. So as far as the power company is concerned, regulations are expensive … because everyone else pays the price of deregulation.
When the government is setting standards for regulation of emissions and other forms of pollution, they’re supposed to consider these so-called external costs. Decades of careful study have gone into determining how the United States is impacted by pollution and what regulations are necessary. However, especially when it comes to climate change, Trump has been deliberately playing up the cost of regulations while just as deliberately writing off the cost of deregulation. And he’s been caught at it by the Government Accounting Office (GAO).
As The New York Times reports, a new report from the GAO shows that Trump cut the predictions of harm from climate change to just 14% of previous estimates. That reduction allows agencies then to avoid regulating the emission of greenhouses gases and to strip away existing protections. That reduced projection hasn’t just been used on power plants, it’s also affected other industries, and even automobiles. In addition, Trump has deliberately broken links between climate change and planning, both in the military and in federal infrastructure planning. That “saves money” by allowing buildings, highways, and bridges to be constructed without concern over changing weather or rising sea levels, at the cost of … ignoring changing weather and rising sea levels.
Pricing the cost of pollution can be difficult, but Trump’s actions are not even “penny wise and pound foolish,” because they don’t save the United States anything. The savings go to companies, which might be expected to shove a few pennies of gratitude back into Trump’s campaign coffers—or select overseas investments.
Trump’s reflexive attack on anything meant to reflect climate change is more than a little related to why the United States is currently being ravaged by COVID-19. The unifying factor isn’t temperatures, it’s Trump’s inability to see that deregulation often generates costs that are far higher than the boost given to companies when they’re allowed to externalize costs. A new report from the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University (IPI) explicitly links the damage being done to our nation to Trump’s deregulatory zeal. It details how, using exactly the same methods by which Trump undervalued climate change and placed more value on boosting fossil fuel profits, he has “systematically delayed, undermined, and erased key regulations that protect our health, our environment, our workplaces, our living conditions, and our economy.” That deregulation directly contributed to the nation’s inability to address COVID-19.
Trump dismissed the pandemic response team within the National Security Agency. His paranoia toward China resulted in pulling the U.S. out of a program looking at emerging coronaviruses, as well as failing to provide requested resources that would have worked with labs in the Wuhan area. Trump has undervalued preparedness and cooperation with agencies like the World Health Organization.
And there’s another connection beyond just the deregulation link. As the IPI report points out …
There is growing evidence that pollution-related illnesses, such as many cardiovascular diseases and chronic lung conditions—and possibly the direct exposure to pollution itself—are strongly correlated with increased risk of contracting and dying from the novel coronavirus. Unfortunately, for over three years, the Trump administration has relentlessly increased exposure to pollution by rolling back and delaying dozens of protections.
When Trump deregulates pollution, he’s not just placing future lives at risk, he’s sacrificing those lives today, in industrial lots. Just another externalized cost.