Lauren Lantry, lauren.lantry@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Yesterday, the Trump-Wheeler EPA released a 2018 Air Trends Report in another attempt to push distorted figures and take credit for air pollution gains related to policies Trump and Wheeler are trying to tear down. According to Associated Press analysis, U.S. air quality dropped “after years of improvement,” with more polluted air days each year in Trump’s first two years in office than in the previous four years.
Trump and Wheeler have pushed numerous anti-clean air and anti-public health policies including:
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scrapping landmark protections from methane pollution, seeking to allow the dangerous pollutant to contaminate our air without limit
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weakened policies to protect vulnerable Americans from deadly smog pollution that contributes to dirtier air and leads to asthma attacks and heart attacks
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throwing out the Clean Power Plan and replacing it with a rollback that would result in air pollution causing the death of 1,400 Americans per year and spur 120,000 additional asthma attacks;
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seeking to undermine Clean Car Standards, putting more than 43% percent of the population at increased health risk because of dirtier air.
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ignoring peer-reviewed science in order to warp the math about the costs of the Dirty Power Plan and cover up its negative effects on public health.
Furthermore, the Trump-Wheeler EPA recently eliminated good neighbor obligations for upwind state air pollution based on their models wrongly predicting dramatic improvements in air quality through 2023. These perceived improvements are already failing to materialize and will likely continue to do so as the EPA's modeling is premised on the implementation of clean air safeguards such as clean cars, oil, gas, and methane protections that the EPA is currently rolling back.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:
"The Trump Administration is again trying to take credit for the very work it is in the process of erasing, and no one is fooled. With each rollback of our clean air and climate safeguards, Donald Trump and Andrew Wheeler are blowing away years of air quality improvements and ushering in dirty, polluted air. From gutting the Clean Power Plan to rolling back the Clean Car Standards, Trump is putting thousands of lives at stake, all in the name of polluter profits. As our air quality decreases and the consequences of the climate crisis reach our doorsteps, people across the country are demanding clean air and climate action louder than ever before.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million 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.