Donald Trump is setting America up for failure with his newly proposed budget plan. As Trump has previously shared his naive disbelief in climate change, it should come as no surprise that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the largest government agency to be cut.

Trump’s negligence to believe in proven science is deplorable and unacceptable behavior from a leader. Statements from the White House argue the EPA’s impending budget cut is due to it being a “waste of money,” reflecting the popular Republican belief that global warming isn’t an issue. 

The 31 percent budget cut to the EPA will mean more than 3,000 people will lose their jobs. Therefore, this is not simply a loss for the environment but a loss for job production as well.

The area that will be most drastically impacted by the EPA’s budget cuts will come to the environment, and the research and promotion of cleaner air, water and power initiatives.

Specifically, initiatives that will be most impacted include those to clean up the Great Lakes and other large bodies of water. Due to this, you can expect water pollution to become a problem and popular beaches to become inoperative. 

Other programs expected to be cut include those to climate change initiatives and projects to promote clean air and water. Trump may need to be reminded that we need clean air and water to survive; just take a look at Flint, Michigan. 

One major program to be cut is former President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which was designed to create and promote the use of cleaner and more efficient power. Without this plan being funded, we will surely see a lack in clean power initiatives and resources to maintain the environment.

From car exhaust to methane gas from livestock, our America is becoming more and more polluted by the second. The unfortunate truth of the matter is that we will now begin to see these conditions worsen due to Trump’s negligence. 

This issue is not isolated to America, either. Budget cuts to the EPA will result in the discontinuation of programs that help developing nations with climate change, such as the United Nations Green Climate Fund. 

We’re all in this together. Without America’s help in the matter, developing costal communities will now have a lack of support in dealing with invasive species and maintaining clean water and fishing. This obviously creates major problems for these nations, and for the world.

It is important to keep in mind that America’s actions have a direct effect on the world as a whole. To ignore climate change and need for the EPA in our own backyard is one thing, but to take other countries down with us is another entirely. 

So where is all the EPA’s money going? Well, President Trump plans on increasing military spending by over 9 percent; more than it has been increased since Ronald Reagan’s presidency. 

So what happens when there’s another Flint, Michigan? What about another oil spill? Without government funding, the EPA will have less of an impact on preventing and resolving these issues, and then where does that leave us?

Ignoring these types of issue, and of course global warming itself, will not make the problem go away. There is science and research to back up climate change that simply cannot be refuted. If we continue going the way we are and accept cutting the EPA’s funding by almost a third, we are guaranteeing our fate as a doomed country in terms of environmental standing. 

Trump claims that his proposed budget is putting “America first”, when in reality by cutting the EPA and increasing military spending, he is undoubtedly putting the future of our country last.