Trump Moves to Increase Pollution and Disease and HIV/AIDS Deaths

Sitting on the shores of Hampton Roads harbor facing rising sea levels and worries of flooding during tropical storms/hurricanes, global warming and a polluted Chesapeake Bay hit very close to home.  Similarly, as a member of the LGBT community who also worries about the growing epidemic of HIV/AIDS in the black community, medical research to find a cure for HIV/AIDS - and other diseases - is a real concern.  Sadly, such is not the case for Der Trumpenführer who today reversed Obama administration regulations to protect water and air quality and address the very real issue of global warming.  While posturing with oil and gas and coal company executives and miners (the latter refuse to accept the reality that the coal industry is moribund no matter what Trump does) Der Trumpenführer basically gave every other American the middle finger and said "go f*ck yourselves."  Reuters looks at this travesty.  Here are highlights:

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an order to undo Obama-era climate change regulations, keeping a campaign promise to support the coal industry and calling into question U.S. support for an international deal to fight global warming.

Flanked by coal miners and coal company executives, Trump proclaimed his "Energy Independence" executive order at the headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The move drew swift backlash from a coalition of 23 states and local governments, as well as environmental groups, which called the decree a threat to public health and vowed to fight it in court.

The order's main target is former President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan, which required states to slash carbon emissions from power plants - a key factor in the United States' ability to meet its commitments under a climate change accord reached by nearly 200 countries in Paris in 2015.

Trump's decree also reverses a ban on coal leasing on federal lands, undoes rules to curb methane emissions from oil and gas production and reduces the weight of climate change and carbon emissions in policy and infrastructure permitting decisions. Carbon dioxide and methane are two of the main greenhouse gases blamed by scientists for heating the earth.

Environmental groups heaped scorn on Trump's order, arguing it was dangerous and went against the broader global trend toward cleaner energy technologies. A coalition of mostly Democrat-led states and local governments issued a statement saying they would oppose the order in court.

"We won’t hesitate to protect those we serve — including by aggressively opposing in court President Trump’s actions that ignore both the law and the critical importance of confronting the very real threat of climate change," the coalition, led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, said in a statement.

The coalition includes states such as California, Massachusetts and Virginia, as well as cities including Chicago, Philadelphia and Boulder, Colorado.

 Not content with trashing the environment and endangering the health of Americans, Der Trumpenführer has also proposed drastic cuts to HIV/AIDS and other medical research.  No doubt, his white evangelical Christian supporters (who are responsible for putting him in office) will cheer if these cuts are realized since I suspect a majority of them would love to see gays - and the HIV ravaged black community - simply die off.  Suffice it to say, I am beginning to understand that Trump is an evil person.  Bloomberg looks at Trump's proposals to slash medical research spending.  Here are excerpts:

    President Donald Trump’s administration has proposed cutting $1.23 billion this fiscal year from research funded by the National Institutes of Health, according to a White House document sent to congressional appropriators.

    The reduction is part of $18 billion in cuts that the administration wants in fiscal 2017, which ends in October. Most of the proposed reductions at NIH would come from research grants, with $50 million specifically taken from a program meant to support biomedical research in states that typically get less agency money. 

     A worldwide initiative to help people with HIV and AIDS, known as PEPFARand heavily focused on patient treatment in Africa, would be slashed by almost $300 million under the plan. The savings would be found by slowing the rate of new patients put on treatment and reducing support to “low-performing countries.” States also would face a $50 million cut that would target “less effective HIV research and prevention activities.”

     The Trump administration is requesting $65.1 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services in fiscal 2018, down from $84.6 billion in 2016.

     Other proposed health cuts for the current year include:·        $40 million from staffing funds at the Food and Drug Administration, achieved in part with “slower than anticipated hiring.”
·        $50 million from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which may delay missions and reduce grants.
·        $350 million from research grants at the National Science Foundation for biology, information science and engineering.
·        $372 million from the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program that helps people heat their homes.

If there is a god, many of Trump's working class white supporters will find themselves hard hit from the proposed cut backs.  Frankly, they deserve to suffer since they were stupid enough to vote for this foul, pathologically lying, amoral man.