Evergreen: Trump EPA Power Plant Rules Trade Public Health for Coal and Gas Profits

Contact: Samah Shaiq

In response to the Trump EPA’s reported final rule attempting to eliminate limits on climate pollution from coal and gas power plants, Evergreen Action Vice President for Policy Pete Wyckoff released the following statement:

“The Trump administration is staying true to its core values, deciding that hundreds of billions of dollars in public health and climate damages are a fair price to pay if it means fossil fuel CEOs can make a larger profit—a move that is reckless and illegal and will be challenged in court.

“The EPA’s own publicly available analysis contradicts the administration’s laughable claims that the U.S. power sector doesn’t meaningfully contribute to climate change or harm public health. If the U.S. power sector were its own country, it would rank as the world’s fifth-largest emitter of climate pollution. American families will pay the price of this rollback in dirtier air and higher health care bills, while Trump’s fossil fuel donors rake in higher and higher profits. This is part of a deliberate strategy to chain American families to dirty, expensive fossil fuels. Maybe it’s time to change the agency’s name, because under Trump, the EPA has abandoned its mission to protect human health and the environment. It’s now a full-blown polluter protection racket.”

###