By Dan Endreson, Minnesota Program Coordinator
This summer was rough for the environment. The 112
th U.S. House of Representatives has been one the
most anti-environment Congress’ in history by passing legislation that will severely impact
water and
air quality for generations. Congress continues to go after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by attempting to limit its ability to update and enforce the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act. In August, Congress took on the Clean Water Act with the “
Dirty Water Act” (H.R. 2018) that would prevent the EPA from being able to regulate nutrient pollution in our nation's waterways and prevent toxic mountaintop coal from polluting our streams. Today, Congress is taking on the Clean Air Act.
As I write this, Congress is taking up what is called the
TRAIN Act (Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation Act, H.R. 2401), the most dangerous attack on air quality standards since the Clean Air Act was signed into law 40 years ago. The bill would block the EPA from enforcing emission standards to limit mercury and other toxic pollution from power plants and standards to curb smog and soot pollution that crosses state lines. Keeping the EPA from enforcing these standards will expose our children, families and communities to toxic air pollutants that cause illnesses and developmental disorders, particularly in small children. Blocking these standards for just
one additional year would result in:
- up to 25,300 lives lost due to smog, soot and toxic air pollution;
- more than 11,000 heart attacks;
- more than 120,000 asthma attacks;
- over 12,200 more hospital and emergency room visits; and
- many hundreds of thousands more days of missed work or school.
Not only does Congress want to block these standards, but they want to tie the hands of the EPA from creating new standards to keep up with new science and technology. The bill establishes a requirement that a panel of cabinet members review all standards issued by the EPA and issue a report. Both the EPA and the Office of Management and Budget already perform this function, making the cabinet nothing more than a layer of bureaucratic red tape designed to keep the EPA’s health and scientific professionals from doing their job to protect public health.
The EPA should be allowed to do its job of protecting our health from toxic pollution. Legislation such as the “Dirty Water Act” and the TRAIN Act will not fix the economic problems our country faces. Enacting these bills will have an opposite effect by jeopardizing our health and the health of future generations. Congress needs to hear from you!
Tell them to stand up for the EPA and vote NO on the TRAIN Act!
