Dear Mr. Trump,

I am an 18-year-old student living in Washington who is incredibly concerned about our environment. It seems as though the worsening condition of our environment isn’t an issue that fazes you, and that worries me deeply. The facts are all there, which makes it impossible to deny that humans are causing serious harm to our environment. The fact that you stated that global warming is “hoax” is incredibly appalling.

Let’s begin with water pollution. According to a study completed by the Organic Farming Research Foundation, only 2% of our farms our organic. This means that nearly 70% of our freshwater supply is being contaminated with chemicals, pesticides, while not to mention fossil fuels from heavy farming machinery. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also recently assessed streams, lakes and bays. After looking at their research, it was determined that 45% of the stream miles they looked at, 47% of the lake acres, and 32% of the studied bay square miles were polluted and not clean enough to support fishing or swimming. Clearly, we are doing something wrong. And this data is only looking at freshwater supplies. The Ocean is becoming more acidic every day due to fossil fuels and greenhouses gases and the effects are starting to become more apparent. Just look at the Great Barrier Reef if you want proof. Cleary something needs to be done to save our incredible oceans that supply life to so many organisms and supply a living to so many humans, and we need to keep our freshwater supply pollution free if we want to survive. If you are elected president, you can help make a difference by implementing biofuels instead of nonrenewable fossil fuels for the greater good of this earth. You could also implement the need to replant our forests seeing as trees take in the carbon that is leaving our oceans so acidic.

Next up is land pollution, or the degrading of soil and land. This is mainly caused by human activity and misuse of natural resources, including industrial activities and poor agricultural practices. The production of poor quality products, extreme emissions, and the production of chemical ridden plastics affects land both near and far. Poor agricultural practices of using chemical fertilizers, as well as pesticides and herbicides are equally harmful to the land. Not to mention deforestation to expand fam land which can often ruin full eco-systems and leave animals and other living organisms either dead or homeless. All of this also doesn’t take in to count unethical practices that occur daily including illegal dumping, overproduction, and littering. There are two main ways to stop this issue, including proper planning and using our natural resources wisely and correctly. These two easy steps are not hard ones to take, and I believe you should immediately implement them if you become president. We should be able to leave earth better than when we arrived, and with our societies practices today, we are putting our earth in far worse shape.

Lastly, the air is being polluted every passing minute. Our ozone is being depleted and air quality is worsening. Factories, greenhouse gases, as well as fossil fuels are all major factors to this important issue. However, there are many different solutions that you can take as a president to reduce this pollution from going into our atmosphere. The main suggestion I would make would be to upgrade factories with greener technologies by implementing solar panels or filtration systems. It doesn’t all have to be at once, ever just a few factories a year could make a large different on the harm we are causing our earth. A second easy step to take would be implementing better public transit and better city planning to replace heavy commutes and fossil fuels with electric cars and light rails. Lastly, you could work with the FDA and food industry to ensure that animals are removed from factory farms and raising them on natural diets to eliminate the methane emissions and pollutions they give off.

Clearly, there is no denying that human impact is taking a negative toll on our planet. If you become president, it is important that you understand that this is a pressing issue that needs to be addressed immediately. I want my children and grandchildren to be able to experience this beautiful planet and everything it has to offer, but if we, as humans, continue treating our planet the way we are today, I’m afraid they are going to be experiencing a very different world.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

Sincerely,

A concerned high schooler.