COLUMN: Trump Administration Working for Rural Communities
There is no doubt that our country is facing difficult times, but if our history indicates anything, I am confident the American people will persevere. It can be hard to see, however – especially in the rural communities of Central Washington – that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Fortunately, as we watch our economy begin to bounce back from the global pandemic, Congress and the Trump Administration are working to ensure our communities have the tools they need to not only fully recover, but to prosper.
In addition to our nation's COVID-19 response, President Trump and his Administration are enacting changes that will help boost the U.S. economic recovery and protect the elements that truly make America great. As a Member of the Congressional Western Caucus, I have been working alongside Chairman Paul Gosar and others to encourage the Administration to move forward with these changes and provide relief, specifically, to our rural communities across the West and beyond.
In Central Washington, we are gearing up for another wildfire season. With experts warning that COVID-19 safety regulations will negatively impact our firefighters' ability to protect local communities from catastrophic fires, the Bureau of Land Management has proposed a rule that would increase active management of our national forests, supporting rural communities through timber sales and helping to mitigate the risk of devastation facing many throughout our region.
Additionally, the Trump Administration and Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt have called for Congress to invest in our national parks, which serve over 315 million visitors per year. By passing legislation like the Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act, which I am proud to cosponsor, Congress can take meaningful action to address the maintenance backlog at our parks and public lands and preserve some of our nation's most beautiful and historic sites across the country for future generations, all while supporting important recreational economies for the rural communities surrounding these national treasures.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the direction of Administrator Andrew Wheeler, recently proposed a rule to improve cost-benefit proposals under the Clean Air Act, increasing the ability to protect our environment while ensuring federal taxpayer dollars are used efficiently. Protecting precious natural resources – like our clean air – is especially important for Central Washington's large and diverse agriculture industry, and as a farmer, I wholeheartedly agree that we must continue to encourage environmental stewardship.
According to EPA's annual report on air quality, the combined emission of pollutants and their precursors have dropped 7% from 2017 through 2019. This remarkable air quality improvement can be attributed to President Trump's investment in resources for local communities and his encouragement of industries to embrace clean energy solutions, as we have done in Central Washington.
And the investment in clean energy is not stopping. U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette continues to focus on strengthening the United States' position as a nuclear energy leader. Nuclear energy is a clean, reliable energy resource that provides countless benefits to our military, our national security, and our local cities and municipalities. The Columbia Generating Station in Richland, the only nuclear power plant in the Pacific Northwest, provides affordable carbon-free power to homes and businesses throughout the region, and we should continue to promote nuclear power as part of our country's clean energy future.
By enacting these commonsense reforms and prioritizing key investments of national resources, the Trump Administration is demonstrating its commitment to protecting our natural resources and public lands, as well as America's position as a global leader in innovation and energy independence. Most importantly, they are working to ensure that our rural communities are not forgotten.