Washington, D.C. — The Trump administration’s assault on environmental protections could trigger millions of asthma attacks while giving polluters a free pass, according to a new report from the Center for American Progress.
The report shows how the administration’s plan to roll back tailpipe and smokestack standards alone will likely cause more than 100 million asthma attacks over the next 25 years—or more than 10,000 asthma attacks daily—in the United States that could be avoided if the standards were left in place.
At the same time, the Trump administration is pursuing policies that will gut public health programs supporting lifesaving asthma prevention and has proposed pharmaceutical tariffs that could increase the price of asthma medications by 13 percent or more. The cuts to asthma and tobacco prevention programs and other federal programs focusing on air pollution and worker health and safety are expected to lead to more avoidable hospitalizations and emergency department visits, poorer quality air, higher health care costs, and poorer health outcomes.
“These actions will increase pollution while boosting the profits of corporate polluters at the expense of Americans’ health,” said Cathleen Kelly, senior fellow at CAP and co-author of the report. “And it could be compounded by House Republicans’ plan to slash pollution reduction efforts, clean energy incentives, and essential health care coverage for low-income and working-class families, all to give tax breaks to billionaires.”
Asthma is a serious chronic lung disease that affects more than 26.8 million adults and 4.5 million children in the United States, harming people’s health and the U.S. economy by interfering with everyday life, work, and school.
Read the report: “The Trump Administration’s Assault on Environmental Protections Will Give Polluters a Free Pass While Causing Millions of Asthma Attacks” by Cathleen Kelly, Jill Rosenthal, and Leo Banks
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].