Washington, D.C. – A new report from the Center for American Progress shows how the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental protections will expose more than 2 million children to pollutants that increase the risk of cancer, asthma, ADHD, and other lifelong health concerns.
The report highlights the conflict between the administration’s own “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) agenda and the reality of how these environmental rollbacks are harming Americans’ health. The MAHA movement purportedly seeks to reduce childhood disease by reducing exposure to dangerous pollutants and chemicals.
Instead, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Donald Trump and Administrator Lee Zeldin is doing the opposite. Their moves to weaken or eliminate environmental safeguards will allow corporate polluters to emit more toxins and chemicals that harm kids’ health.
“Americans deserve a government that holds polluters accountable and works for everyone, not just industry executives,” said Cathleen Kelly, senior fellow at CAP and co-author of the report. “The Trump administration has rigged the system in favor of the ultrawealthy and corporate polluters, undermining Americans’ right to live in a healthy environment and threatening children’s futures.”
The report finds:
- More than 2 million children under age 18 live within 3 miles of an industrial polluter invited by the Trump administration to apply for a two-year exemption, or “free pass,” from complying with toxic air pollution limits.
- More than half a million of those children are younger than age 5, when kids’ brains and bodies are most harmed by pollution.
- More than 565,000 children younger than age 18 live within 3 miles of a corporate polluter that has received a two-year free pass from President Trump to avoid complying with toxic air pollution limits.
- The six states with the most children living near a facility with a “free pass to pollute” are California, Texas, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Utah.
Read the report: “How the Trump Administration’s Embrace of Oil, Gas, and Chemical Industry Interests Will Endanger Children’s Health” by Cathleen Kelly, Jill Rosenthal, and Jasia Smith
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].