Marvel actor says Trump's environmental record has hurt Americans

When Trump had the chance, he failed to protect us from PFAS, which has so far been found in the drinking water of more than 7,000 communities

Mark Ruffalo
| Special to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Many of us have fought toxic pollution for decades. So we know what some of former President Trump’s acolytes have recently discovered: protecting our families and friends toxic chemicals is a priority for all of us, regardless of who we voted for.

Too often, politicians in both parties have put polluters’ profits ahead of our public health. That was certainly the case during the administration of former President Donald Trump. And the contrast with the administration of President Biden and Vice President Harris couldn’t be clearer.

There are many examples. For starters, Trump is pro-use more asbestos, which is known to cause mesothelioma, a devastating lung disease. The Biden-Harris EPA forbidden asbestos. But perhaps the best example is the action taken to address this problem PFASthe poisonous “forever” chemicals linked to cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Trump has taken no action against PFAS, also called forever chemicals

When Trump had the chance, he failed to protect us from PFAS, which has so far been found in the drinking water of more than 7,000 communities and poses unique risks to firefighters. In contrast, the Biden-Harris EPA required water utilities to remove PFAS from our tap water – a historic decision that will provide cleaner water to more than 100 million people.

Biden and Harris promised in 2020 to make PFAS a priority, and they have done just that. No government has done more to address the urgent threat posed by these forever toxic chemicals. Trump’s team said they would protect us from PFAS; the Biden-Harris team actually got the job done.

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While the PFAS drinking standard came too late for people like Amara Strande, Joel Stelt and countless others who were poisoned by PFAS polluters without their knowledge or consent, repealing or delaying the standard — as Trump’s minions have promised to do – be an insult. to their families, who fought tirelessly to bring justice for what can only be described as one of the greatest environmental crimes in our history. We all want water, food and everyday products that are free of forever toxic chemicals. Only one of us would want to put polluters back in charge of the EPA.

PFAS is just one example of Trump’s failure to protect us. Trump’s EPA has withdrawn a proposal to ban TCE, an industrial solvent linked to cancer and other health harms. Biden’s EPA banned TCE. Trump’s EPA refused to ban toxic pesticides that threaten the people who feed us. Biden’s EPA banned the thinking and most uses of chlorpyrifos and acephate.

If Trump wins, toxic polluters will be in charge of the White House

People are right to worry that the people charged with protecting us from toxic chemicals are putting our public health ahead of the profits of chemical companies and other polluters. But it won’t be public health experts who will be responsible for regulating toxic chemicals like PFAS if Trump wins. It will be the people who make the chemicals – and their lobbyists – who will call the shots.

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If Trump wins, the polluters will be in charge again. People are right to worry about toxic chemicals. They are wrong if they think Trump will do anything about it.

After decades of allowing polluters to poison their workers and neighbors, we are finally making our public health, not polluters’ profits, our top priority. Polluters have known for decades that PFAS builds up in our blood and makes us sick; Our regulators knew and did not act. Thanks to Biden and Harris, we are finally getting the protection we all deserve.

Mark Ruffalo is an activist and actor of Kenosha.