President Trump’s Misguided Climate Change Executive Order Harms Pennsylvanians’ Air Quality

On March 28, 2017 President Trump signed a far-reaching executive order attacking vital public health safeguards that protect American families from dangerous air pollution. Trump’s executive order seeks to rewrite the Clean Power Plan, President Obama’s flagship climate policy, as well as crucial oil and gas protections and other critical climate and health safeguards.

Joseph Otis Minott, Esq., Executive Director and Chief Counsel of Clean Air Council, issued the following statement:

“President Trump’s executive order is an outright attack on our air quality and public health that would rig the system in favor of polluters and leave American families to pay the costs of more pollution and worsening climate change. If EPA is successful, Pennsylvania residents will miss a huge opportunity afforded by the Clean Power Plan to advance clean, renewable energy and will lose critical protections that address methane pollution from new oil and gas facilities.  The EPA has clear legal authority and responsibility to protect human health and welfare by limiting carbon pollution. This order directly contradicts this responsibility. In the absence of strong federal standards, Pennsylvania residents will need strong leadership and a commitment from Governor Wolf to address air pollution concerns in the Commonwealth from the oil and gas industry and the power sector.”  

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Contact: Joseph Otis Minott, Clean Air Council, 215.567.4004 x116, joe_minott@cleanair.org

Clean Air Council is a member- supported, non-profit environmental organization dedicated to protecting everyone’s right to breathe clean air. The Council is headquartered in Philadelphia and works through public education, community advocacy, and government oversight to ensure enforcement of environmental laws. For more information, please visit www.cleanair.org.