NRDC Sues EPA For Failing to Protect Public from Deadly Soot

WASHINGTON – NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) today sued the Trump Environmental Protection Agency to block a final rule that left in place the current unprotective federal limits on soot pollution and leaves thousands of people vulnerable to air pollution and breathing difficulties brought on by COVID-19.

 
John Walke, Clean Air Director at NRDC, made the following comment:

“This outgoing administration should have listened to science and seen the hardship afflicting millions of people and strengthened federal limits on soot pollution. But yet again, it chose to put polluter profits far ahead of protecting public health.

“So, we are suing EPA today, asking the court to require the agency to better protect our lungs, to give people infected with COVID-19 a better chance at fighting off the virus and to reduce the disproportionate burden on people of color and low-income communities from this deadly pollution.

“EPA’s own scientists say that more than 12,000 lives each year could be saved by stronger limits on soot. It’s time polluters stopped making us sick.”

NRDC’s petition was filed in U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

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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 NRDC.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.​