SEEC Commends State Delegation Letters to EPA Demanding Pollution Protections for Their State

Washington, D.C. – This week, members of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) led their state delegations in sending public comment letters in response to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin’s proposed rollbacks of EPA’s landmark Endangerment Finding and vehicle emissions standards. These letters were sent alongside SEEC’s 154-Member public comment letter to EPA highlighting climate change-impact stories across the nation. 

It is unquestionable that the American people are already experiencing the local and devastating effects of the climate crisis here at home. Whether it is the raging wildfires in California, extreme heat in Arizona, or intense hurricanes in Florida, these letters demonstrate that climate chaos can already be found in every corner of our nation. As the federal agency dedicated to protecting human health and the environment, the EPA must answer how it could possibly contend that climate change is not already impacting the public health of Americans across the nation, as is clearly demonstrated in these letters. 

The state-specific public comment letters on EPA’s proposal to roll back the 2009 Endangerment Finding and the vehicle emission standards: 

• Arizona – led by Representative Yassamin Ansari with 2 members.
• California – led by Representative Mike Levin with 44 members.
• Connecticut – led by Senator Richard Blumenthal with 6 members.
• Delaware – led by Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester with 3 members.
• Florida – led by Representative Kathy Castor with 8 members.
• Georgia – led by Representative Nikema Williams with 5 members.
• Illinois – led by Representative Sean Casten with 15 members.
• Louisiana – led by Representative Troy Carter with 2 members.
• Maryland – led by Senator Chris Van Hollen with 9 members.
• Massachusetts – led by Senator Edward Markey with 11 members.
• Michigan – led by Representative Debbie Dingell with 6 members.
• Nevada – led by Representative Dina Titus with 1 member.
• New Jersey – led by Representative Rob Menendez with 11 members.
• New York – led by Representative Paul Tonko and Nydia Velázquez with 20 members.
• North Carolina – led by Representative Deborah Ross with 3 members.
• Oregon – led by Representative Maxine Dexter and Senator Jeff Merkley with 7 members.
• Pennsylvania – led by Summer Lee with 7 members.
• Rhode Island – led by Representative Gabe Amo with 4 members.
• Tennessee – led by Representative Steve Cohen with 1 member.
• Texas – led by Representative Lloyd Doggett with 10 members.
• Virginia – led by Representative Jennifer McClellan with 7 members.
• Washington – led by Representative Pramila Jayapal with 7 members.
• Vehicle Emission Standards – led by Representative Doris Matsui with 102 members.

Background

On July 29, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced his formal proposal to rescind the Endangerment Finding – the scientific determination that greenhouse gases endanger human health and must be regulated under the Clean Air Act. Threatening the 2009 Endangerment Finding and EPA’s explicit authority to regulate greenhouse gases began as part of the Trump Administration’s Day One Executive Actions. 

In response, SEEC sent a letter in January condemning the Trump Administration’s Day One Executive Actions that rolled back a multitude of critical pollution regulations and environmental protections, including the Endangerment Finding. In February, SEEC sent another letter condemning Administrator Zeldin’s reported recommendation to rescind the Endangerment Finding and urged him to follow the science and protect Americans from planet-warming pollution. 

Last week, members of SEEC held a press conference at the Capitol to oppose EPA’s proposed rollbacks of the Endangerment Finding and vehicle emissions standards that will make our air dirtier and our lives more expensive. 

As part of the public comment period for the proposed rollback of the Endangerment Finding, SEEC also led a letter of 154 House Democrats that highlighted climate change-impact stories across the nation.