Michigan U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell said Wednesday that the Trump administration’s policies are contributing to rising utility bills and creating an affordability crisis for Michiganders.
“For too many Americans, the basic promise of this country has been that if you work hard, you can get ahead,” the Democratic congresswoman said. “And instead, they're feeling further and further behind. Inflation’s been crushing families. The cost of everyday goods are skyrocketing. Groceries, utility bills, housing, daycare, and healthcare have become unaffordable and people are making trade-offs.”
Dingell said the expiration of ACA tax credits and cuts to Medicaid has led to skyrocketing health insurance costs. “I've got a couple in my district, 60-year-old couple, both working, they make $85,000 a year, and their annual premiums jumped by $18,000,” Dingell said.
“These are not statistics,” Dingell continued. “These are human beings that are hurting, they are our neighbors, they are members of our community.”
The Environmental Protection Agency's recent move to stop regulating greenhouse gases will cause health problems that will exacerbate the affordability issue, Dingell said.
According to a press release from Michigan Clinicians for Climate Action, the rollbacks in regulation will negatively affect air quality and worsen underlying health conditions, bringing more patients to health clinics and hospitals.
Dingell said the Trump administration’s decision to slash billions in investments to clean energy solutions is raising utility bills for Michiganders. According to a press release from Climate Power, the administration’s attacks on clean energy have canceled or stalled 167,386 jobs, hiking utility costs by double digits.
“What we're seeing is old, outdated, and expensive coal plants being forced to stay open,” Dingell said. “To keep alive a fossil fuel industry that doesn't provide more affordable energy for customers anywhere. It's not more affordable, and it doesn't help healthcare costs because it contributes to health effects, pollutants, asthma.”
The Trump administration has said its energy policies will restore American prosperity and rebuild the nation’s economic and military security. In an executive order issued on the day his second as president began, Trump called existing regulations "burdensome and ideologically motivated" and said they had devastated American consumers.
The Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan, liberal-leaning think tank, said major utility companies in Michigan have cited economic uncertainty from the tariffs the Trump administration has implemented as a possible trigger for higher inflation and increased costs for customers.
Abby Clark, the Midwest campaigns manager with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the Trump administration's continuing orders to keep a Michigan coal power plant running nearly a year beyond its planned retirement date is an example of policies that are not cost effective. “The pollution plume from the Campbell coal plant is so large, it appreciably impacts the health of every person across the eastern seaboard,” Clark said.
“The failure of the federal government to invest in our infrastructure and provide those investments for our people and those protections for our people endangers all Americans’ ability to breathe clean air, drink clean water and have bills they can pay,” Clark concluded.
