Trump’s Federal Budget Plan

On May 23, President Donald Trump released a first full budget blueprint for the coming 10 years, reallocating billions of dollars previously invested in scientific development to the departments of defense, homeland security, and veteran affairs. If Trump manages to push this proposal through the legislative branch of the government, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would lose $2.5 billion, while other science-promoting agencies such as the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) and educational programs such as the Sea Grant would face imminent demise. In addition, Trump also plans to defund projects such as the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), handing over its task to independent enterprises.

With his billion dollar cut to EPA, Trump would end governmental involvement in EPA’s geographic programs aimed at ecosystem protection and its voluntary partnerships related to energy and climate change. According to him, these programs are not essential to EPA’s core mission, the protection of human health and the environment -- air, water, and land. However, one such threatened program, Energy Star, has since its foundation in 1992 saved more than $360 billion on utility bills and prevented more than 2 billion metric tons of GHG emissions. Since 2005, it has also contributed to a total U.S. carbon footprint reduction of 9%, but Trump has made no comment on these achievements.

Other agencies like the CSB would be completely eliminated on the grounds that they duplicate existing Agency efforts. However, while the CSB closely collaborates with other agencies, a number of memorandums of understanding (MOUs) prevent overlap of function. Indeed, the CSB has been investigating industrial chemical accidents and reporting its results to OSHA and EPA since 1998, a unique and necessary responsibility that no other board possesses. Its dismantlement would deprive labs across the country of a valuable resource for improving lab safety.

By withdrawing funding for the Department of Energy, Trump targets ARPA-E, which has been bringing new energy technologies to market since 2005. In Trump’s eyes, the private sector has proven more fit to take care of the high demands of the groundbreaking scientific research ARPA-E is involved in. However, introducing pioneering work to the greater society requires all support available, and the White House could help this process by dedicating a reasonable amount of money to it from its overall budget of $4.1 trillion.

Trump’s budget cuts for the science and environment departments have fueled suspicions that he lacks regard for the environmental and medical health of America. In response, Trump reaffirmed his environmental awareness during the Paris Climate Conference, declaring that “the United States, under the Trump administration, will continue to be the cleanest and most environmentally friendly country on Earth.” Only, his scientific and environmental concerns do not occupy the first place on his list of priorities. As he explained in the same conference speech, “we’re not going to put our businesses out of work and we’re not going to lose our jobs.” Hopefully, Trump manages to live up to these promises, finding a balance between serving his people financially and environmentally.

Despite the common belief that attention to scientific development in our country depends on the governing party, neither Democrats nor Republicans would survive in a world devoid of science, with a pierced ozone layer and without cell phones. Scientific research both improves our lives and protects us against its negative side-effects, and if our government invests in it now, it would continue to repay all of us in the long term.