Born on June 14, 1946, in New York, New York, Donald Trump owns a wide variety of hotels, casinos, and properties. At the age of 70, Donald Trump succeeded in winning the presidential election with Mike Pence in 2016. When he was elected president, he started reducing and eliminating regulations that past presidents had implemented.

Today, the average American in the United States uses roughly 156 gallons of water each day. To put that in perspective, that is more water than the average person in France, India, and Mali combined. An honors biology teacher at Joliet West Mrs. Bloom, “Under the Trump administration, almost 100 environmental policies have been, or are in the process of, being changed or eliminated.” The fact that the United States uses a large amount of water and that the Trump Administration is in the process of eliminating policies shows that critical environmental issues are not their priority. 

During his time as President of the United States, Donald Trump has made it clear that environmental policies are not the most important thing for the United States. This was made clear when Trump left the Paris agreement back in 2017. This is an agreement where wealthier countries lend money to poorer countries to deal with the struggles of gas emissions, finance, and most importantly, climate change and the rising sea levels. Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement making us one of the only countries uninvolved. To paraphrase, he claimed that it posed a problem for the American workers. However, Mrs. Bloom added, “I understand that there are negative economic implications, but again, if we do nothing to slow or stop climate change, our planet could (eventually) become inhabitable to humans… at that point, our economy is not going to seem so important.”

In addition to pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, Donald Trump is changing the environmental rules put in place before him. The Clean Power Plan that former president Barack Obama put into action was replaced with a plan with far less environmentally restraining policies under the leadership of President Donald Trump. The Clean Power Plan required cutting back on carbon emissions 32% by 2030. In contrast, Trump’s Affordable Clean Energy plan required to reduce sector emissions by 11 million tons, or between 0.7 and 1.5%. 

Not only has the Trump administration rolled back the regulations regarding air pollution and climate change, he has also rolled back the regulations on the Endangered Species Act. The Trump administration rolled back protection for the species that are sensitive to climate change. In addition, the new regulations allow for smaller habitats. For example, the critical habitats that are not occupied but are needed in the future, can now be used for gas and oil factories. Jamie Rappaport Clark, who led the fish and wildlife service during the Clinton administration, said that the rules are “devastating,” and that “there is nothing biologically positive about the rules.” 

The environment is not something that any country should not consider. If left unchecked, the problems could potentially grow making it harder to erase. It is not too late for the government to change, but it is not easy. An article made in 2016 pointed out that Sweden had less than one percent of trash sent to the landfill since 2011. This proves that changing the way society thinks of the environment is possible.