Heller should oppose EPA cuts

By Courtney Jones, Las Vegas

Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017 | 2 a.m.

The Environmental Protection Agency is looking at a potential budget cut of 31 percent. Across the nation, people are protesting bids by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans to put their own special interest first.

The prospective cuts communicate to the public that its health and future are in jeopardy. Clean air, water, lands and a sustainable environment are items that Americans will not allow Trump to take away from us. The disastrous effects of climate change have arrived and will only continue to worsen unless the government recognizes their position to orchestrate change.

The prioritization of fossil fuels by Trump and all corporate polluters only leads to a rise in pollutants, soot and smog. Marginalized and oppressed communities such as Flint, Mich., are typically the first to feel the effects of budget and policy inequality. This is another intersecting disadvantage that the people will not allow to happen. As well, the EPA budget cut would reduce pertinent research and jobs that would allow for the progression of America’s stake in the Earth’s climate change.

As a college student at UNLV, it frightens me when thinking ahead to my future and the generations that will follow me. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., must oppose the EPA cut for the people’s health and the preservation of the lands we call our home.