Media Contact: Emily Pomilio, 480.286.0401, emily.pomilio@sierraclub.org
Pittsburgh, PA - Former coal lobbyist and acting Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler released an unlawfully weak carbon pollution policy today that would gut the Clean Power Plan’s life-saving standards and do next to nothing to fight the climate crisis.
As the first-ever standards to cut carbon pollution from existing power plants, the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan would have reduced carbon emissions from the electricity sector by 32 percent, prevented 90,000 asthma attacks per year, and avoided 3,200 premature deaths per year by 2030. All told, the EPA estimated that the Clean Power Plan would have provided up to $45 billion in climate and public health benefits a year, while also helping drive the rapid expansion of affordable clean energy industries like solar, wind, and energy efficiency.
At the same time, the Sierra Club released a radio ad throughout the Pittsburgh area highlighting the dangerous, outdated, and damaged Bruce Mansfield coal-fired power plant that has been polluting the surrounding community’s air and water for decades. Executives of the coal plant are currently seeking a taxpayer bailout from the federal government for millions of dollars even though the plant is unneeded for energy in the area and two of its three units are unable to operate due to a major fire.
In response, Patrick Grenter, Pennsylvania Sr. Campaign Representative at the Sierra Club, released the following statement:
“The proposed rollback of life-saving clean air and climate safeguards is unacceptable and exposes Wheeler’s EPA as a puppet of the very coal executives who used to sign his paychecks and want to pollute with impunity. This is another desperate attempt by the Trump Administration to prop up the dirty and obsolete coal industry, but it won’t work. The U.S. will continue to move away from dirty, polluting fossil fuels and confront the climate crisis head on, with or without the Trump Administration. That is why it’s time for owners of polluting plants like Bruce Mansfield to think about how to responsibly transition the plant’s workers and do right by the community. ”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, 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.