NRDC on EPA: There They Go Again
Statement by David Hawkins, Climate Center Director, Natural Resources Defense Council, on today's announcement by EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson that the agency will pursue a drawn-out Advance Notice of Proposed Rule-Making process to address global warming pollution and potential regulation under the Clean Air Act:
“There they go again. Today's EPA announcement follows an industry script designed to delay any real action to reduce global warming pollution for as long as possible and certainly until the next administration.
“This flies in the face of the Supreme Court's 2007 decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, which already rejected EPA’s identical arguments for inaction. The EPA went all the way to the brink of fulfilling its responsibility to regulate global warming pollution from fuels and vehicles, by sending an affirmative decision to the White House last fall. Predictably, the White House blocked it, following the industry script. Now Administrator Johnson says he wants to start all over again, contrary to the Supreme Court decision. NRDC, as part of a coalition of environmental organizations, intends to return to federal court next week to enforce compliance with the Supreme Court's decision.”
NOTE TO REPORTERS:
Please contact Eric Young to obtain the EPA letters containing Administrator Johnson’s announcement, as well as a copy of an industry memo that serves as the script for today’s EPA letters.