The tax bill going through Congress is worse than people realize. It will hurt the middle class especially by eliminating local tax deductions and cutbacks. President Donald Trump has been anti-environment and pro-fossil fuels from the beginning. He has cut the budgets of the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies, including important climate programs.

The budget resolution also opens the door to drilling in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and provides tax cuts to corporate polluters at the expense of public health and communities across the nation.

Trump wants to decimate the EPA and take away funding for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s climate programs. This plan hurts offshore wind by cutting the tax credit by a third and speeding up the installation time lines. The GOP tax bill also would end a $7,500 credit for purchasing electric vehicles. In the current budget, there’s already about $15 billion in subsidies for fossil fuels. While keeping the bulk of tax credits for the oil and other fossil fuel industries, his plan cuts important credits for green fuels.

To pay for his tax cuts to millionaires, Trump wants to eliminate important programs on renewable energy and electric vehicles. At the same time, he’s keeping almost all the loopholes and subsidizes for Big Oil and the other fossil fuel industries. This is part of his war on the environment and clean energy.

Jeff Tittel Director, New Jersey Sierra Club

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