McSally Stop Rubber Stamping Trump’s Destruction of our Environment

President Trump and his appointee Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler have continuously chipped away at environmental safeguards that keep us safe. This plus their disastrous Covid-19 response is putting the lives of all in jeopardy, but especially Latinos in Arizona. Where is our representation?

Trump’s attacks on the environment started when he took office and quickly withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement in 2017 meant to lower carbon pollution. Trump also delisted climate change as a national security threat.

Latinos are not only bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 crisis, we are also on the frontline of the climate crisis. This is proven time and time again as asthma rates are up to twice as high in Latino and Black communities than in their white counterparts. Poor air puts Latino communities plagued by health disparities at higher risk for respiratory diseases and exacerbates the impacts of COVID-19. In Arizona, heat and pollution combine to become the nexus of even more risk for Latinos

During the rise of COVID-19, the American Lung Association placed Phoenix as seventh on the list of cities with the worst air quality. Poor air quality, extreme heat, and the state’s exceptionally lax response to the COVID-19 health crisis created the perfect storm of deathly risks for all Arizonans — but especially Latinos.

Some of the most damaging actions and likely the hardest to undo are the Trump administration’s monumental attacks on the EPA. This administration has been happy to trade our children’s health for corporate profits. Scraping the Clean Power Act, loosening toxic air regulations, reducing accountability for the coal industry, all have caused irreparable harm to communities across the country.

Most surprisingly, these attacks haven’t stopped in the face of the pandemic. In fact, they’ve gotten worse.

In the middle of this public health crisis, the EPA has gutted regulations like the Mercury Air Toxic Standards (MATs), the Clean Waters Act, and most recently, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The recent attack on NEPA would make it easier for projects like the Keystone XL Pipeline to be built and would make it harder for communities to fight back against these projects. Collectively, these rollbacks have caused the level of pollution to rise during a global health pandemic.

At a time when Arizona needs representation and advocacy most, these attacks on our health and environment have been met with little resistance from legislators like Sen. Martha McSally. These safeguards are critical to the well-being of vulnerable populations. Her silence and lack of advocacy make her complicit in the devastation these rollbacks will cause.

Amidst the most life-threatening public health crisis of our time, Arizonans are once again asking “Where is Sen. McSally?” Why are our rights, our health, and wellbeing not being protected by her?

Arizona continues to suffer the effects of COVID — 19 with job losses, rising housing and food insecurity, parents struggling to homeschool their children, all with no end in sight. It is unconscionable. The senseless attacks on the EPA fueled by greed and neglect have contributed to ballooning death rates in Arizona. McSally has failed to protect us, our health, and our quality of life, instead she continually sides with greedy corporate polluters and Trump over the people of Arizona.

As the effects of climate change are already affecting our lives, Mcsally and Trump have undone and undermined decades of research-based work meant to save the planet.

Meanwhile, the effects of the climate crisis are rising and impacting our lives and will continue to escalate into long-term irreversible damage. Our future generations, our sons and daughters deserve representation and strong advocacy. Yet Senator Mcsally chooses to be a negligent, damaging rubber stamp for Trump’s destruction. Arizona needs someone who cares about our community, not just a rubber stamp for a greedy President happy to destroy our environment and country.