Border Security Over Environment: Trump's Budget Cuts Climate Change Funding

The proposed federal budget of President Donald Trump shows slashing budget for agencies responsible for climate change programs and initiatives.

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said during a press conference last week that spending money on programs that address man-made climate change is a "waste of your [tax] money."

The $1.1 trillion budget outline revealed cutting the funds of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by about one-third. As mentioned by CNN, the proposal would cut $2.6 billion from the agency, and would result in 3,200 fewer jobs.

The proposal suggests it would eliminate budget for all Global Climate Change Initiatives, including the Climate Adaptation Plan, which seeks to estimate the financial impact of climate change in the U.S., and the Clean Power Plan, President Barack Obama's signature environmental regulation.

Meanwhile, The Boston Globe reports that Trump has increased the budget for the military, veterans and law enforcement. He proposed a $54 billion increase to the military budget and proposed that more money should be spent to border security agents and immigration judges.

David Waskow, Director of the International Climate Initiative at Washington DC research group World Resources Institute, told The Independent that investing in combating climate change is "in the US economic and security interests."

"If we don't take serious action on climate change, it'll cost us far more money to deal with severe weather events, rising sea levels, and security risks from displacement and resource scarcity," Waskow explained.

Meanwhile, Margie Alt, executive director of Environment America, told The Guardian that the proposal of Trump is "dirty and dangerous and fails to protect our health or our planet."

"Slashing EPA's overall budget by more than a third means the agency cannot adequately enforce our clean air and clean water safeguards. It is basically a ‘get out of jail free card' for polluters. Congress should reject this budget," she said.