From Pollution to Pandemics: Your News in Brief
“Pandemic of Pollution” under Trump’s EPA
Moves by the Trump Administration to roll back environmental regulations during the coronavirus crisis have prompted outcry from Democrats saying a “pandemic of pollution” will follow.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has weakened fuel efficiency and mercury emission regulations and waived enforcements on multiple public health and environmental mandates. More actions have been taken to ease requirements on industries to monitor, report and reduce toxic pollutants and climate-damaging fossil fuel emissions.
The EPA cites industries having difficulty complying with regulations during the pandemic as reasoning for these rollbacks. There have also been new rules that relax fuel efficiency standards developed by the Obama administration and a rollback of plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
A spokeswoman for the EPA has said that the agency will not seek penalties for noncompliance of requirements on a case-by-case basis if it was caused by the pandemic.
Democrats say that since March 1, the EPA has proposed or finalized several rules that will result in increased air pollution potentially leading to tens of thousands of premature deaths. According to federal data, air quality has dropped during the first two years of the Trump administration. Data from this year shows dramatic improvements in air quality worldwide due to lockdowns during the pandemic.
Tech Giants Release Pandemic App Technology
On Wednesday, Apple and Google released awaited smartphone technology that would automatically notify people if they were possibly exposed to the coronavirus. According to the companies, 22 countries and several U.S. states are planning to build voluntary phone apps with this software.
Many governments have tried to produce their own phone apps to fight the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these have been unsuccessful with technical difficulties and limited adoption.
Apple and Google’s technology relies on Bluetooth wireless technology to detect when someone with the app spends time near another app user that later tests positive. Other apps have used GPS to track people’s locations, something that both companies have banned from their new tool for privacy and accuracy concerns.
While not a replacement for contact tracing, which requires public health workers to reach out to people who may have been exposed to an infected person, the “exposure notification” system can augment the process and slow the spread of COVID-19.
This technology is the product of a rare partnership between the rival tech giants and resolves some of the technical challenges that governments have faced in building Bluetooth-based apps.
Trump Threatens Funds for States Easing Voting During Pandemic
President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal funds for two election battleground states, Michigan and Nevada, as they are trying to make it easier and safer to vote during the coronavirus pandemic.
The president tweeted an attack against voting by mail, which he has publicly worried will lead to so many people voting that Republicans will lose in November. He has since opposed the practice, despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommending mail voting as the safest option during the pandemic.
Notably, the president did not threaten Republican-run states taking similar measures towards mail voting. West Virginia’s governor has approved mailing absentee ballot applications to all registered voters, and has said he is not worried about Trump’s threats.
Democrats have drawn parallels to Trump’s previous threats to withhold aid from Ukraine if the country did not help his reelection efforts.
Trump has claimed absentee voting is ripe for fraud although there is little evidence of widespread wrongdoing. He requested a mail-in ballot for Florida’s March GOP primary and has voted absentee in the past.