Statement from Daniel Kass, Senior Vice President, Environmental, Climate and Urban Health, Vital Strategies
(New York, June 30, 2022) — Limiting the EPA’s authority to regulate power-plant emissions is an assault on the nature of government as much as nature itself, stripping agencies of their ability to act with scientific authority. Make no mistake: This decision will accelerate our very real climate crisis, leading to more preventable illness and death.
States will be disempowered to act as well. Just this March, the EPA, under its authority from the Clean Air Act, re-enabled California and other states to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from tailpipes. We can now expect polluter-financed challenges to all state-level efforts to regulate CO2 emissions.
Public health officials must pressure policy makers to join amica briefs to defend state regulations and to align with the overwhelming majority of the public that want to see CO2 regulated. The urgency of climate change demands it. There is no time to wait for a generational swing back to center.”
About Vital Strategies
Vital Strategies is a global health organization that believes every person should be protected by a strong public health system. Our team combines evidence-based strategies with innovation to help develop and implement sound public health policies, manage programs efficiently, strengthen data systems, conduct research, and design strategic communication campaigns for policy and behavior change. To find out more, please visit vitalstrategies.org or Twitter @VitalStrat.
Media Contact
Christina Honeysett: choneysett@vitalstrategies.org