Lawmakers: “As the Administrator of the EPA, you are tasked with making decisions grounded in science, law, and the best interests of the American people.”
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and 11 colleagues in raising the alarm over reports that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to roll back its findings that greenhouse gases endanger people’s health and welfare.
In their letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, the senators emphasized, “It is difficult to understand how the nation’s lead official responsible for protecting human health and the environment could seriously entertain the idea of undoing a scientific finding that has been repeatedly upheld in court, reinforced by thousands of studies and decades of research, and is supported by the vast majority of the scientific community.”
The move to overhaul decades of overwhelming scientific consensus on the climate crisis and natural disasters follows another record hot year, as well as catastrophic wildfires that destroyed lives and communities across the West Coast. The senators expressed serious concerns about the political motives behind the decision.
“Using political means to hinder, distort, or improperly steer the work of federal scientists or the communication of scientific facts undermines the public trust of key institutions and actively threatens the welfare of the nation. The scientific evidence in support of the endangerment finding is clear, compelling, and continues to grow stronger. Reversing this finding would be reckless and irrational,” the lawmakers wrote.
Before the EPA takes any further steps to undo this foundational finding without transparency and scientific support, the senators demand answers to the following questions by March 15, 2025:
In addition to Senators Hirono and Wyden, the letter was also signed by Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Peter Welch (D-VT).
The full text of the letter is available here and below.
Administrator Zeldin:
We write to you today deeply alarmed by your recent recommendation to reconsider the EPA’s 2009 endangerment finding, which determined that greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide endanger public health and welfare. As you know, this finding has been the cornerstone of the United States’ legal and regulatory framework for addressing climate change under the Clean Air Act (CAA).
It is difficult to understand how the nation’s lead official responsible for protecting human health and the environment could seriously entertain the idea of undoing a scientific finding that has been repeatedly upheld in court, reinforced by thousands of studies and decades of research, and is supported by the vast majority of the scientific community. Given the overwhelming scientific consensus and the increasingly dangerous and costly wildfires, droughts, and extreme storms that the American people are experiencing, we call upon you to reconsider any scientifically indefensible move to overturn this finding.
As the Administrator of the EPA, you are tasked with making decisions grounded in science, law, and the best interests of the American people. In light of these facts, we demand answers to the following questions regarding your reconsideration of the endangerment finding by March 15, 2025, before any further steps are taken to undo this foundational finding without complete transparency and undeniable scientific support:
Scientific findings should never be tainted by political interference. Using political means to hinder, distort, or improperly steer the work of federal scientists or the communication of scientific facts undermines the public trust of key institutions and actively threatens the welfare of the nation. The scientific evidence in support of the endangerment finding is clear, compelling, and continues to grow stronger. Reversing this finding would be reckless and irrational. As such, we urge you to seriously reconsider any efforts to revisit, reverse, or rescind the endangerment finding, and instead reaffirm the EPA’s commitment to protecting public health and the environment from all human-driven threats, including the growing threat of the climate crisis.
We look forward to your response and hope that you will prioritize scientific integrity in your decision-making.
Sincerely,
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