Donald Trump’s budget cuts have been denied by Congress. Now he’s calling for a government shutdown. Photo: CNN
President Donald Trump’s environmental policies have been a source of much disagreement. When his budget came out, academics, activists, and Average Joes were shocked at the proposed slashes to the EPA, NASA, and many others. But Congress just did something that flies in the face of all things Trump: they denied nearly all of his requests to cut funding to major science programs.
Here’s a quick rundown, courtesy of IFL.com:
- The National Institute of Health (NIH) has had its spending increase by $2 billion to a total of $34 billion. Trump requested this to be cut.
- NASA has been granted $19.7 billion in funding, an increase even on what Obama requested. Of this, $5.8 billion is set aside for science research, including $1.9 billion for the Earth Sciences – something Trump officials said they wanted completely defunded.
- $37 million has been given to NASA’s STEM programs and outreach, with $100 million total going towards educational programs, something Trump also wished, and still wishes, to cut by 2018.
- The National Science Foundation (NSF), the largest federal fund for science and academia, has been given $7.5 billion, a slight increase from 2016’s budget.
- The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has been given $1.09 billion, a slight increase from 2016. Trump wanted to cut this by 10 percent.
- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which faced a 31 percent cut by this year or the next, has only had its funding cut by 1 percent.
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been given $3.5 billion
- Renewable energies and clean energy research funding have been boosted by $17 million.
Holy shit, right?
Most notable in there is the EPA’s budget. After muzzling EPA researchers and hiring a man who’s sued it more than a dozen times to head it up, it looked like end-days for the entity that ensures big business can’t vomit their chemical offal wherever they please. The proposed cut of over 30 percent turned into a cut of just one percent. Opponents of the EPA’s reach believe that in their efforts to protect the environment, they’re stifling economic growth, which is a point with merit. It would be much easier for many businesses to do business if they didn’t have to worry about the environment, and a couple of the EPA’s legislations can be seen almost unnecessarily strict.
Second most notable is NASA’s funding. Trump tried to cut their spending, at least when it came to earth sciences. Now, they’ve been granted $19.7 billion, more than Obama requested. “Of this, $5.8 billion is set aside for science research, including $1.9 billion for the Earth Sciences,” wrote IFL.com, “something Trump officials said they wanted completely defunded.”
Want to know how in God’s name this abrupt about-face occurred? To everyone watching, the GOP party this year wasn’t exactly on the side of science. Well, in order to pass the budget, a supermajority of Senators had to agree on it. If they didn’t, the government would shut down. And now, after Congress went against his wishes, the president actually said a shutdown was needed. That, my friends, is lunacy. According to Michigan Congressman Dan Kildee, the last shutdown cost taxpayers $24 billion.
either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51%. Our country needs a good “shutdown” in September to fix mess!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2017
When Senate Dems realized that they were kind of in the driver’s seat, they hit the gas. “While making sure that Planned Parenthood was protected and Trump’s border wall wasn’t funded,” IFL.com continued, “they also appeared to guarantee science funding increased, if only slightly, in most areas of the federal government.”
Of course, the funding bill is temporary and has yet to be officially approved by the House and Senate (which will probably happen on May 5th) but for those concerned with the environment, foresight, and science in general, things are looking up.
