NRDC Defends Clean Air from Bill that Would Boost Industry Air Pollution

WASHINGTON (Nov. 6, 2019) – Newly proposed legislation would allow massive increases in dangerous air pollution from nearly 14,000 industrial emitting facilities across the United States, John Walke, a senior attorney and clean air director with the Natural Resources Defense Council, told the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works today.

In his written testimony Walke noted that the proposed reforms to the New Source Review provisions of the Clean Air Act “would let industries pollute more, by significantly higher amounts, and in the process, evade air pollution controls and pollution offsets in areas already experiencing unsafe air quality.

“Moreover, the large pollution increases authorized by the legislation would exacerbate worsening air quality in downwind states. This would make it impossible for these downwind states to deliver safe air to their citizens,” Walke testified.

Walke said the bill would negatively impact U.S. air quality and increase dangerous air pollution across America. He concluded his testimony with the point that, “Americans deserve better. Americans deserve Senators rejecting this harmful legislation.”

The hearing will begin at 10:00 am EST and the full testimony of John Walke, a senior attorney and clean air director with the Climate and Clean Energy program at NRDC, will be available here. 

More about the hearing can be found here. 

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The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.​