(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont, Attorney General William Tong, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes, and Connecticut Department of Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani released the following statements in response to today’s announcement from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it has finalized its rescinding of the “endangerment finding” – the landmark Obama-era determination that allows the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles as air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.
The endangerment finding reflects the scientifically supported and widely understood connection between greenhouse gases, air pollution, and harm to human health and the environment.
Governor Lamont said, “With today’s decision, the Trump administration has made it clear they do not care about the impacts greenhouse gas emissions have on the health of our communities, especially our children, seniors, and vulnerable populations. This is settled science. Connecticut has a proud, bipartisan history of standing up for environmental safeguards, and we will fight this decision, just like we have done every time this administration has threatened the health and prosperity of the people of Connecticut. Connecticut residents deserve clean air to breathe, and safe communities in which to live and raise a family.”
Attorney General Tong said, “Over and over again, we see Donald Trump siding with Big Oil. He wants to sell out future generations of Americans for short-term profits for fossil fuel companies and the world’s biggest polluters. But we are going to stop him – the science and the law are firmly on our side. The next step is now the legal fight in court and, just as we won the first round before EPA – forcing it to drop its shoddy science – we are confident we can win round two. We will be in this fight for as long as it takes.”
Commissioner Dykes said, “The evidence is even clearer now than it was in 2009, greenhouse gases pollute the air and contribute significantly to poor air quality. Connecticut suffers from some of the worst air quality in the United States, and greenhouse gas emissions, including from vehicles, contribute to air pollution that exacerbates respiratory illness, resulting in tens of millions of dollars spent on related healthcare costs in our state every year. Walking away from protecting the environment and public health will cost us. This reckless action puts us at greater risk for climate-related impacts, such as the dangerous and costly extreme weather events we’ve experienced in recent years, making Connecticut less safe.”
Commissioner Juthani said, “Rescinding the endangerment finding represents another rejection of data and research at the expense of the most vulnerable members of our community, including women and children of color. Black women and children already face far higher mortality rates from asthma and asthma-related complications exacerbated by poor air quality than their White peers. The administration’s planned cuts to Medicaid will result in decreased access to care for respiratory illness in communities with the greatest need, at the same time they are proactively attacking public health by abandoning efforts to protect the air we breathe.”