Senate Democrats are pushing EPA to more fully explain its recent decision to stop calculating the projected health effects of new Clean Air Act regulations, a major change that critics say will downplay the expected benefits of stricter pollution limits.
The new policy “is irrational,” Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and some 30 other Democrats told EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in a letter released over the weekend. “The only beneficiaries will be polluting industries, many of which are among President [Donald] Trump’s largest donors.”
Among other requests, they asked Zeldin to spell out EPA’s basis to stop quantifying in dollar terms the potential health impacts of smog and soot pollution when analyzing the possible impacts of new air regulations. They are also seeking all communications with the fossil fuel industry and the White House Office of Management and Budget tied to the decision.
The letter sets a Feb. 26 deadline for responses. Besides Whitehouse, the ranking member on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the signers include Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, along with Sens. Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, independents who both caucus with Democrats.
