Environmental “Protection” Agency to Stop Considering Health Impacts of Pollution

Today, the New York Timesreported that the Environmental Protection Agency would cease to calculate the negative health impacts of air pollution in its future rulemaking process and only consider industry costs.

On the EPA’s website, the mission of the agency is to “protect human health and the environment.” Between 1999 and 2020, air pollution from coal-fired power plants killed nearly half a million Americans.

This change in policy is yet another attack from the Trump administration on American public health. Lee Zeldin has announced his intention to roll back a number of life-saving standards, and gave dirty coal plants hall passes to pollute while his agency works to dismantle bedrock public health protections.

In response, Sierra Club Climate Policy Director Patrick Drupp issued the following statement: 

“Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency is saying the quiet part out loud with this new announcement: They have no interest in actually protecting American lives and keeping our communities healthy and safe from toxic pollutants. The only thing Lee Zeldin wants to protect are the profits of fossil fuel companies. So much for making America healthy.

“While this complete betrayal of the EPA’s mission is not surprising from this administration, Americans should be outraged that Donald Trump and Lee Zeldin have shown once again that they will always put the interests of corporate polluters before our health, our wellbeing, and our futures.”

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.