DeGette: EPA Should Stop Gutting Regulations and Wasting Taxpayer Funds
Denver – Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO) today called on Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt to stop gutting regulations that preserve air quality and wasting taxpayer funds on needless expenditures.
"This agency, which is supposed to protect the quality of our air, our water and the health of our children, is falling woefully short," DeGette said at a news conference at the EPA's regional headquarters in Denver held in conjunction with the Sierra Club. "It's called the Environmental Protection Agency, not the Environmental Gutting Agency. We call upon Administrator Pruitt and his senior advisors to overcome their severe ethical challenges and do the right thing."
DeGette noted that under Pruitt's leadership, the EPA has started withdrawing from the Clean Power Plan, which was created in 2015 to reduce carbon emissions from electrical power plants and to increase the use of renewable energy. Power plants are the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States, making up roughly one-third of all domestic greenhouse gas emissions.
"They've done everything they can to undermine the Clean Power Plan," DeGette noted, "and have taken additional steps to roll back other air quality standards."
In January, the EPA announced it is withdrawing the "once in, always in" policy, which has been in place since 1995. This policy ensures that major sources of pollution such as power plants are held to high standards on emissions of substances such as arsenic, lead and mercury.
Today, seven environmental groups including the Sierra Club sued the EPA over this change, saying it could let sources drastically increase pollution.
A senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, DeGette has also led the charge against wasteful spending by Pruitt on items ranging from needless first-class air travel to a $43,000 soundproof booth that was constructed in his office. In response to the committee's questions, the EPA Inspector General is now looking into these issues.
DeGette has also raised concerns about the impartiality of some of Pruitt's senior political appointees, including one from Colorado, who have engaged in outside activity for compensation that could present conflicts of interest undermining the EPA's mission.