“Today President Trump signed an executive order commanding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to weaken a range of important public heath protections…”

“Let’s face facts: Rolling back public health protections will cost American lives. By allowing pollution levels to go up, President Trump is also allowing premature deaths to go up, heart attacks and asthma attacks to go up, and sick days from work and school to go up. According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s own scientific analysis, revoking the Clean Power Plan – which reduces a range of dangerous air pollutants in addition to carbon – would cause each year up to

3,600 more premature deaths,

1,700 more heart attacks,

90,000 more asthma attacks, and

300,000 more missed work days and school days”

“This executive order doesn’t just turn its back on our kids, our seniors, and the most vulnerable among us. It turns its back on the next generation.”

“The Clean Power Plan gives all states tremendous flexibility in designing solutions to achieve pollution reductions based on their own policy priorities and prerogatives – including cost-effective energy-saving solutions that would save an average American family an estimated $85 a year in electricity bills.””Today’s executive order ignores settled law that greenhouse gases are pollutants under the Clean Air Act, as found in three Supreme Court opinions in the last decade…”

“Today’s order also disregards America’s clean energy economy, which is already a powerful economic engine across the country. The bi-partisan Governors’ Wind and Solar Coalition, led by Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo and Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, recently sent a compelling letter to President Trump highlighting the shared economic benefits of clean energy, including for low income rural communities…”

“The nation’s wind and solar energy resources are transforming low-income rural areas in ways not seen since the passage of the Homestead Act over 150 years ago.”

“…impressive contributions of wind and solar to the American economy —particularly to low-income rural communities — such as the $222 million in revenue paid by U.S. wind facilities to rural landowners every year, and the 200,000 people employed in the solar industry in 2016, with 31,000 new jobs added last year alone.”

“Americans in all regions of our nation do not want dirtier water and air. They overwhelmingly support a strong, effective Environmental Protection Agency.”