The Freedom to Pollute

4.6 million Americans live within two miles of a facility that has been given permission by President Trump to pollute the air. In March, the Trump administration initiated a process allowing industries to apply for up to two-years of compliance exemptions under the Clean Air Act. More than 180 facilities, including coal plants, chemical manufacturing and petrochemical facilities applied and received exemptions from the act.

You can find out if you live near an exempted polluter using a new interactive map from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Dirty Air / Dirty Deeds shows the locations of all the coal plants, chemical manufacturers, coke ovens, and other facilities that have been given permission by the Trump administration to poison the air of local residents.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), “nearly half of the exemption-eligible facilities are in communities that have air-pollution-related cancer risks 80 times higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) guideline.” The orange circles on the map indicate facilities that have already been granted an exemption, while the yellow circles represent those that are eligible for exemptions and may receive them in the future. 

A two-mile buffer has also been added to the map around each facility to help identify the communities most affected by these polluters. These buffers are color-coded to reflect the CDC Environmental Justice Index and Climate Burden, with darker colors indicating communities facing higher cumulative environmental, health, and climate-related burdens, as well as greater social vulnerability.