Polluters must not be above the law 

Until July 1, 2024, no one in the U.S. was above the law. The Supreme Court changed that by granting the president of the United States broad immunity. Since then, we have seen what happens when someone without a moral compass cannot be held accountable. 

Now, America’s dirtiest industry wants to be unaccountable, too. To the great detriment of the public, President Trump and several Republican state officials are helping it happen.

The industry in question — fossil fuels — should be held more responsible for the damage it causes, not less.

Oil, coal and natural gas have dominated the U.S. economy since about 1885. About 75 years ago, the industry realized its emissions were destabilizing the Earth’s climate. They responded by hiding that knowledge, greenwashing and using political muscle to suppress competition from cleaner energy.     

The heroes of the Industrial Revolution are now a principal cause of premature deaths, childhood asthma, air pollution and increasingly violent weather.   

Clean alternatives (including the windmills that so terrorize Trump) are available and preferable in every way. The industry still argues that America still has ample underground reserves of oil, coal and gas. Extracted and consumed, they would be worth trillions of dollars in profits to oil companies and investors.

But for the rest of society, the cost of using the reserves is much higher than that of keeping them in the ground.

Most Americans don’t realize this, because the real costs of fossil fuels are hidden. The prices consumers pay don’t show the true costs to society and the environment. Families bear these costs through medical........

© The Hill