CONTACT: DKC News, MomsCleanAirForce@dkcnews.com
Washington, DC– This week, Administrator Lee Zeldin’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) submitted a draft proposal for White House review that appears designed to weaken vital federal efforts to regulate the greenhouse gas pollution that is driving climate change. Though the details of the proposal are unclear, Zeldin has indicated his intention to revoke the Endangerment Finding, the legal and scientific foundation of the agency’s obligation to limit the greenhouse gas pollution that is fueling global warming and supercharging extreme heat and weather.
In response, Moms Clean Air Force Director and Co-Founder Dominique Browning released the following statement:
“EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has been on a POLLUTION SPREE —and though the details are unclear, today’s actions appear to be yet another step towards rolling back protections that are vital to keeping our families and communities safe from the dangers of global warming and air pollution. Zeldin seems intent on attacking his own agency’s responsibility to cut greenhouse gas emissions—even as all the evidence points to the increasing severity and destructiveness of global warming. There is no question that global warming endangers us, all of us, right now. Combined with the Senate’s passage today of a reconciliation bill that attempts to cripple the deployment of cleaner energy, these actions indicate that we are in a dangerous place in America’s commitment to fight the global warming that is harming us, now.
“Global warming is no longer an abstraction. It’s personal. Think of families displaced by 100-year floods that now come year after year. Think of children stuck indoors on summer days when the heat turns playgrounds into burn hazards—and weeks or even months go by when children cannot go outside as heat waves last longer and temperatures soar higher and continually break records. Think of parents packing tiny toys and clothing into go bags, anxiously checking for wildfire updates during fire seasons that now start earlier, burn hotter, and last longer. Think of families waiting for news of loved ones in the path of a catastrophic hurricane that has been turbocharged by global warming. Climate change is robbing us of the stability of our lives, one disaster at a time.
“For over 15 years, the Endangerment Finding has been the legal and scientific backbone of EPA’s ability to protect us from climate pollution. It’s the law: EPA must continue its work to limit the pollution that contributes to making our weather more extreme and dangerous. We will pay a devastating price if EPA shirks its legal and moral duty.”
Zeldin’s draft proposal also appears designed to weaken limits on greenhouse gas pollution from tailpipes. The transportation sector accounts for the largest segment (28%) of total climate pollution in the U.S., with vehicle tailpipe emissions accounting for 80% of the transportation sector’s greenhouse gas emissions.
In response, Moms Clean Air Force Director of Federal Policy Melody Reis released the following statement:
“The transportation sector contributes enormously to global warming, with greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle tailpipes accounting for the vast majority of the transportation sector’s climate impact. There were already commonsense safeguards in place that would have resulted in less of this dangerous, planet-heating tailpipe pollution while also promoting more consumer choice and reducing children’s exposure to smog and soot. Rolling back these life-saving protections would be a step backwards for our country, our planet, and our children.”