STATEMENT: Repeal of Power Plant Carbon Standards Would Impose Devastating Costs on Health and Climate

Washington, D.C. — According to published reports, the Trump administration is expected to repeal carbon pollution standards for new gas and existing coal power plants. The move comes after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has already repealed the scientific finding that climate pollution endangers public health and well-being, has stopped considering pollution impacts on Americans’ health and lives when setting rules, and has rolled back other lifesaving protections. In response, Trevor Higgins, senior vice president for Energy and Environment at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:

The administration is once again prioritizing corporate polluter profits over its responsibility to protect the health, safety, and economic security of children, families, and communities. Clean energy is the fastest and cheapest way to bring new power to the electricity grid, but the administration seems determined to keep the economy dependent on fossil fuel instead.

These rollbacks will only increase the devastating consequences of climate change from deadly extreme heat, severe droughts, devastating wildfires, flooding, and storms—costing Americans even more for utilities, housing, and insurance. This move is the latest in a long series of EPA actions to eliminate essential safeguards and makes it clear that the Trump administration does not care about protecting Americans’ health, wallets, or lives.

Additional resources:

• The Trump Administration Delivers Yet Another Giveaway for Big Oil at the Expense of Americans
• How the Trump Administration’s Embrace of Oil, Gas, and Chemical Industry Interests Will Endanger Children’s Health
• The Trump Administration’s Attack on Environmental Protections Will Increase Cancer-Causing Pollution
• A Plan for American Electricity Affordability
• How Trump’s Cuts to FEMA and NWS Are Leaving Communities Defenseless Against Extreme Weather Disasters
• How Fossil Fuels and Global Extreme Weather Increase Americans’ Food Prices
• Climate Change Is Subjecting More Americans to Unbearable Extreme Heat

For more information, or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].