Trump's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just
removed limits on greenhouse gas emissions by power plants, essentially letting coal and gas power facilities do whatever they want. In the process, they are not only hurtling the planet towards worse climate disasters, but they are also
allowing pollution that will significantly damage human health. The EPA's new "no limits" policy follows other efforts to roll back clean air regulations, and even to weaken rules on mercury pollution.
Why did Trump's EPA do this? The EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, explicitly said
it's to help businesses by saving dirty energy corporations billions of dollars. That's more important to them than the future of the planet that we all live on, or our health.
Sign the petition to demand that the EPA reinstate limits on greenhouse gases and pollutants like smog, lead, and mercury. Congress can help, by passing a law mandating that the EPA keep these rules in place.The EPA used to calculate the effects of pollution - and reducing pollution - on public health. For example,
estimating the number of deaths and illnesses that result from pollution, and how many lives can be saved by following through on regulations. Now, though, Trump's EPA has stopped with these calculations entirely. By their own admission,
the only calculations they track anymore are the estimated costs to businesses if they comply with regulations.These numbers are important, because it shows who and what the Trump administration sees as a priority, and what is worth protecting. Independent experts estimate that the rules Trump wants to see gone
could prevent around 30,000 deaths each year.Transportation is the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases in the U.S. The second-largest? Power plants. In fact, if U.S. power plants formed their own country, they would amount to
the fifth-largest contributor to climate change in the whole world - with the first four contributors being China, the rest of the U.S., India, and Russia. And
greenhouse gasses are directly responsible for causing our planet to heat more and more, pushing us deeper into climate catastrophe.But Trump's EPA doesn't care about this. In fact, Zeldin has argued that greenhouse gases are essentially harmless, supposedly don't contribute to climate change, and are basically no big deal.
This is our future! These are our lives, our health, our planet. We all live here. They don't have the right to throw everyone else's collective future away just so they can help their corporate billionaire friends make even more money!
We can't let the Environmental Protection Agency just decide randomly to not protect the environment. Congress MUST pass a law mandating that the EPA has to regulate carbon dioxide, pollutants like mercury and smog, and eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. There is no other path forward. Lawmakers must take action now! Sign the petition!