Like the rise of the sea level, the national debt is increasing and we will soon be drowning in debt if action is not taken to mitigate the problem. Currently, the national debt is over 18 trillion dollars and going up by the second. Environmentally speaking, the impacts of this debt are far-reaching and serious. Because of the national debt, federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lose their ability to properly regulate environmental issues and concerns. As Congress looks at what to cut in the federal budget, the EPA budget is at times discussed as not ‘necessary.’ However, the Environmental Protection Agency has only a relatively small annual budget of approximately 10.4 billion dollars annually. With this, the EPA protects the health of the public through the enforcement of the Clean Water and Clean Air Act as well as seeking alternative energy projects and green initiatives, which stimulate job growth.

As stated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, “Earth’s average temperature has risen by 1.4°F over the past century, and is projected to rise another 2 to 11.5°F over the next hundred years. Small changes in the average temperature of the planet can translate to large and potentially dangerous shifts in climate and weather” (EPA 2014). The issue on climate change is that there are various subcategories of what has occurred and what will occur as a result of this all-encompassing issue. For example, dry places will get drier and wet places will get wetter which will affect the plants and animals as well as humans that live in these regions. Moreover, oceans are becoming more acidic and also warming which causes it to expand and implicates the marine wildlife we value on an economic level as well as a biological and ecosystem level. The Environmental Protection Agency has the obligation to address these major problems.

Further, the EPA is reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which are the main source of climate change, and promoting a clean-energy economy through highly successful partnerships and common-sense regulatory initiatives. For example, the EPA is developing common-sense regulatory initiatives to reduce GHG emissions and increase efficiency. The EPA’s vehicle greenhouse gas (GHG) rules will save consumers $1.7 trillion at the pump by 2025, and eliminate six billion metric tons of GHG pollution. The EPA is also working on carbon pollution standards for the power sector, which is the largest source of carbon pollution in the country. The carbon pollution standards will cut carbon emissions from the power sector by 30 percent nationwide below 2005 levels (EPA 2015).

All of these initiatives that the EPA works on are to benefit the public and the environment. It is for the common good. However, with the national debt creeping up on us, what will be on the chopping block? If the EPA’s budget is further cut due to “solving” the national debt crisis, will it come at the cost of the environment and the public?