Reed Opposes Trump Admin’s Attempt to Weaken Legacy of Chafee’s Clean Air Law

WASHINGTON, DC - In a stunning reversal that goes against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) own mission statement, the Trump Administration unveiled a revised Clean Air Act rule that weakens emission limits for dangerous nitrogen oxide (NO_x) pollution used in power plants and industrial facilities. According to the EPA, long-term exposures to NO_x are linked to asthma and other respiratory illnesses and lead to increased emergency room visits. To make matters worse, the analysis included in formulating the harmful new rule abandons a decades-old practice followed by Republican and Democratic administrations that assigns a dollar value to health care costs avoided and lives saved by pollution rules.

According to the Associated Press, the rule proposed by the Biden Administration could have prevented an estimated 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays, as well as $77 in health benefits for every $1 spent on pollution reductions. In issuing its revised rule, the Trump Administration says it will no longer consider the public health benefits of rules aimed at reducing fine particulate matter and ozone, pollutants linked to asthma, lung disease, and premature death. Meanwhile, the agency would continue counting compliance costs to industry.

U.S. Senator Jack Reed stated:

"Once again, the Trump Administration puts special interest corporate welfare above the public good. This move would weaken the Clean Air Act of 1990, which was led by then-U.S. Senator John H. Chafee (R-RI) to strengthen pollution emissions standards.

"Fossil-fuel generated air pollution is hazardous to your health and costs taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Now the Trump Administration is recklessly rolling back clean air safeguards and hiding how much its policies will cost in lives, illnesses, and medical bills. The Trump Administration should reverse course and follow the scientific guidelines that have served the nation well under both Democratic and Republican administrations alike."

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