Nearly 100 days into the second term of Donald Trump as president of the United States, America celebrates Earth Day and its responsibility as a good steward of the planet.
Leaders of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC), including Co-Chairs Reps. Doris Matsui, Mike Quigley, and Paul Tonko and Vice Chairs Reps. Don Beyer of Virginia, Suzanne Bonamici, Sean Casten, Mike Levin and Chellie Pingree, shared a statement today that “the centrality of this responsibility has come into sharp focus as we have witnessed the myriad of ways in which the Trump Administration has worked to dismantle environmental protections for the American people, claw back life-saving clean economy investments from our communities, and hand off a planet to our children that is less safe and less healthy than we found it.”
The SEEC is a coalition of 100 members of the U.S. House of Representatives that was founded in January 2009 to be a focused, active, and effective coalition for advancing policies that address climate change, promote clean energy innovation and domestic manufacturing, develop renewable energy resources, create family-sustaining clean jobs, protect our nation’s air, water, and natural environment, and promote environmental justice.
According to the SEEC, Trump and his allies are hollowing out federal agencies and making it impossible for the federal government to carry out congressionally mandated duties to protect Americans and enable American families to live healthier and more prosperous lives.
The coalition’s criticism extends to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and the EPA’s rolling back of standards to prevent toxins in drinking water and cancer-causing pollutants in the air.
“Amid a Trump-induced tariff war, the Department of Agriculture is threatening our food supply by stripping federal investments that improve agricultural resiliency for our hardworking farmers. The Department of Energy is boosting expensive, dirty fossil fuels to pad the profits of oil companies while actively trying to kill consumers’ choices for cheaper, cleaner technologies. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense is turning a blind eye to the impacts of extreme weather and natural disasters on American national security, while millions of Americans experience the deadly impacts of wildfires, floods, and storms. And despite every economic indicator flashing red, Republicans in Congress are working hard to deliver shameless giveaways to the large multinational corporations and the wealthiest Americans at the expense of everyday Americans. This isn’t American leadership – it’s sabotage,” the SEEC leaders said.
The coalition will continue to work for “a cleaner, healthier, and more affordable future for the American people. We are at the beginning of a planet-wide clean energy renaissance, and America is at a crossroads. Will we lead the world in the cheaper, cleaner technology of the future or will we stagnate and cling onto the dirtier, more expensive technology of the past? The choice is obvious to us.”
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Rebecca Barnabi
