The Trump administration and congressional Republicans, including Rep. Fred Upton, are waging a highly destructive and misguided war on the environment.
The major argument Republicans make is that environmental regulations are “job killers.” Multiple studies have demonstrated that this claim is false — for a comprehensive review of these studies, see the Environmental Integrity Project, Jan. 16, 2017.
The truth is, environmental regulations are not only good for the environment, they are also good for the economy.
Based on a careful examination of the data, studies conducted over many years have reached the following conclusions:
• Environmental regulations have resulted in a net increase in jobs, not a net loss.
• For every dollar invested, wind and solar projects have created twice as many jobs as fossil fuel projects.
• The economic benefits of environmental regulations have exceeded costs by a ratio of 10 to 1.
• Increased environmental regulations often lead to an increase in productivity.
• When federal environmental regulations are weakened, states with strong regulations experience greater economic growth and create more jobs, while states with weaker regulations suffer economic decline.
• Compared to other developed countries, the U.S. has relatively weak environmental regulations. Weakening them further would do great harm, not only to the environment, but to our economic wellbeing.
Congressman Upton has been on the wrong side of the environmental debate for a long time. At one point he was labeled “the number one enemy of the earth” by the Los Angeles Times because of his opposition to sensible and productive environmental regulations.
Now is the time for Upton to recognize the dangers of the Trump administration’s destructive environmental policies and vigorously oppose them. If he does not, we need to vigorously oppose him in 2018.
Larry Feldman
Lakeside