Pallone Slams Trump Administration as “Blatant Grifters” for Rescinding EPA’s Longstanding Endangerment Finding

Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) released the following statement today slamming the Trump Administration for moving to reverse the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) longstanding “endangerment finding,” the scientific finding that climate pollution harms human health and the environment under the Clean Air Act:

“President Trump and his Administration are blatant grifters who are only looking out for the rich and powerful and this proposal proves it. With this action, Trump and EPA Administrator Zeldin are putting massive corporate polluters in the driver’s seat at EPA and it will be everyday Americans who pay the price – with their health, their energy bills, their jobs, their homes, and even with their lives.  The only winners from this proposal are corporate polluters who will be allowed to dump unlimited pollution into our communities without any consequences.

“As we recently saw in Texas, no community is safe from the worsening climate crisis, and yet the Trump Administration is determined to ignore the science and make the crisis even worse.  The ramifications for all Americans will be catastrophic.  

“The science and the law are clear, and we cannot resign current and future generations to an unlivable planet.  That’s why I will fight this proposal tooth and nail.”

Under the Clean Air Act, EPA is required to set protections for pollution that “endanger public health or welfare,” and in 2009 EPA determined that climate pollution is a threat to public health and welfare and therefore must be limited. This finding is based on science and has been affirmed by the courts.

This is the first time that EPA has sought to reverse the endangerment finding. If successful, this move will strip away longstanding public health and environmental protections, and give polluters a free pass.

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