WASHINGTON – Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt’s decision to scrap the Clean Power Plan is not only a complete collapse of U.S. leadership on climate change, but a direct attack on public health that will trigger tens of thousands more asthma attacks among American children, said EWG President Ken Cook.
“Scott Pruitt says the so-called war on coal is over, but the Trump administration’s war on children’s health is escalating,” said Cook.
“The repeal of the Clean Power Plan lays bare the truth that protecting the health of children from industrial pollution isn’t even on his radar,” Cook said. “You’d hope the head of the EPA would champion policies that shield kids from the life-threatening risks of asthma, but Pruitt and the Trump administration have clearly shown whose interests they care most about: the failing coal industry, not America’s children.”
By capping carbon pollution from power plants, the Clean Power Plan aims to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent by 2030. The EPA estimates that the rule, if left untouched, would “lead to climate and health benefits worth an estimated $55 billion to $93 billion in 2030, including avoiding 2,700 to 6,600 premature deaths and 140,000 to 150,000 asthma attacks in children.”
“There seems to be no program at EPA meant to protect the public, particularly children, from pollution that Pruitt isn’t hell-bent on destroying,” Cook added.
