Christopher Schuler, christopher.schuler@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC – After attempts by the Administration to hide it from the American public for days, the Washington Post has reported that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is urging Donald Trump to further undermine bedrock environmental law and strip the agency he leads of essential authority to limit greenhouse gas emissions. If Trump approves, this action would directly and blatantly violate the Supreme Court’s decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, which held that the Clean Air Act does cover climate pollution, as well as multiple recent acts of Congress.
The EPA’s Endangerment Finding is a formal determination from 2009 that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane are causing climate change and thus harming human society, giving EPA the authority to regulate CO2 and other heat-trapping gases emitted from sources like power plants, motor vehicles, and oil and gas infrastructure. In the 15 years since the finding was issued, the science behind climate change has become far more overwhelming and the impacts of this phenomenon—intensified hurricanes, deadly heat waves, massive wildfires, and rising sea levels—have become increasingly devastating. Zeldin is now planning to strip EPA of its legal ability to control greenhouse gases, even though the Supreme Court and Congress have directly said otherwise.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous released the following statement:
“Lee Zeldin is willing to go so far as to break established law to pay back the corporate executives and polluters who spent millions to get Donald Trump elected. The Sierra Club will not sit idly by as Zeldin and Trump attempt to endanger the American people so their billionaire buddies can make an even larger fortune. This breathtakingly illegal power grab defies both the Supreme Court and Congress, and if Trump agrees to this plan, the Sierra Club will meet them in court. We will never allow any administration to sell out the climate, our health, our clean air, and our future.”
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.