On Tuesday, President Trump signed an executive order that would impose sweeping changes to federal environmental policy aimed at protecting our air and water, and thus public health.

Trump and his associates are, of course, calling the changes an effort to boost job creation within industries that have historically been known for polluting air and water, such as coal. They claim industries like coal have languished in recent years due to Obama-era environmental protections, though other factors, like the cheap cost of natural gas and sources of coal outside coal country, have likely had a greater impact.

Components of Trump's executive order include gutting the Clean Power Plan (an ambitious effort to reduce carbon emissions), allowing more methane emissions on public lands and ceasing a program that quantifies the social cost of excess atmospheric carbon.

Trump is a known climate denier, as are his cabinet picks for heads of the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, Rick Perry and Scott Pruitt, respectively. As Attorney General of Oklahoma, Pruitt sued the agency he now heads about a dozen times, and is known to be on the side of the oil and gas industry, which seems to have a stronghold on Oklahoma state politics.

While he and his administration insist that it's all about job creation, environmental groups are calling the order out for what they say it really is: a giveaway to corporate polluters.

Environmental nonprofit Earthjustice released a statement Tuesday sharply criticizing the proposed rollbacks on environmental policy.

“Champagne corks are popping in the board rooms of big corporate polluters as they celebrate this ill-disguised fossil fuel industry wish-list of an executive order, which will wreak havoc on efforts to tackle climate change and protect our communities. At a moment when we desperately need to expand climate solutions, President Trump is trying to block the rise of clean energy to benefit fossil fuel billionaires who are already lining their pockets with massive taxpayer subsidies," Earthjustice president Trip Van Noppen said in a written statement.

 That organization is currently serving as co-counsel for the Sierra Club, which is part of a large coalition that has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in an effort to force the feds to keep the Clean Power Plan intact.

Like other environmental groups, especially in Florida, where climate change impacts like sea-level rise and ocean acidification are poised to have a direct impact on public health and the economy, Earthjustice notes how the administration is ignoring the vast scientific consensus on climate change and what is causing it.

“This order ignores the law and scientific reality," Van Nopen continued. "Dirty coal power is never coming back because it can’t compete with clean energy and denial won’t make climate change go away. Earthjustice will continue to defend clean air and progress on climate in court and out, and we will never back down from protecting our public lands.” 

Democratic U.S. Congresswoman from Tampa Kathy Castor, whose district is likely to be impacted by climate change more so than the nation's inland districts, also weighed in on the impending policy change Tuesday in statement stressing how closely related Florida's environment and economy are.

“Trump’s executive order will cost Floridians a lot," she said. Unless we can slow the damage caused by climate change, Floridians will pay more for property insurance, flood insurance, beach renourishment and local taxes as the costs of water infrastructure and coastal resource protection rise. Florida’s economic health is tied directly to its environmental health. According to the Florida League of Cities, Florida has more private property at risk from flooding than any other state. Climate change could cost $69 billion in coastal property damage by 2030 and $152 billion in damage to coastal Florida properties by 2050."

This article appears in Mar 23-30, 2017.