SEEC Leads the Fight to Stop EPA’s Dangerous Rollback of Pollution Protections
Washington, D.C. – Members of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC), including Vice Chairs Reps. Sean Casten (IL-06), Mike Levin (CA-49), and Chellie Pingree (ME-01) and SEEC Member Rep. Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), held a press conference at the Capitol to oppose Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin’s proposed rollbacks of EPA’s landmark Endangerment Finding and vehicle emissions standards that will make our air dirtier, our children less safe, and our lives more expensive.
WATCH: The full press conference here.
“Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush recognized that global pollution demands global solutions, and that if we are going to put consumers first, we need to use markets to make sure that we identify the cheapest ways to lower global pollution. You can thank Republican Administrations for shutting down the sulfur emissions from Midwestern coal plants,” said Congressman Sean Casten. “I regret that that ideology has completely left the Republican Party. The Republican-created Clean Air Act says that EPA has an affirmative obligation to regulate pollutants that affect human health and welfare. The Supreme Court is unambiguously clear that carbon dioxide is a pollutant that adversely affects health and human welfare. I hope before I’m done with this job, it is not so damn partisan to defend that.”
“I led a letter with virtually the entire California delegation, House and Senate. We got everybody signed up in California to say to Administrator Zeldin, ‘Don't do this.’ Californians don't want to see this happen,” said Congressman Mike Levin. “I represent so many Republicans that don't want to see the smog alerts come back, don't want to see the polluted air come back. We've got to stand up for clean air, we've got to stand up for a strong economy, and we've got to lead the future.”
“I am here for my children and my grandchildren, because we know just how important it is we do this work for the future and how much we’ve already lost with this Administration,” said Congresswoman Chellie Pingree. “I’m lucky enough to represent the state of Maine, where we care deeply about the environment, but it’s also our livelihood. We’re an economy that’s based on our natural resources, particularly fishing, farming, and forestry. The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 90% of the rest of the oceans in the world, and that’s already had huge impacts for our fishermen. Climate change impacts our lives every single day.”
"While much of my native Texas is full of fossil fuels and fossilized thinking, Texas leads the nation in wind power and solar installations,” said Congressman Lloyd Doggett. “I am pleased that most of my Texas Democratic colleagues have joined me in calling for the EPA to maintain the endangerment finding–our bedrock finding that climate change endangers human health. The danger of our ever hotter planet is real. The Endangerment Finding is essential to meet that challenge."