Washington, DC -- Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) condemned the Republican Majority’s move to cripple the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and to turn back the clock on efforts to protect our nation from the effects of climate change. 

“Today, the fight against science comes from people who refuse to believe that man has played a significant role in polluting our planet to the point where its climate is changing, potentially in catastrophic ways.  We just cannot stick our head in the sand and refuse to act, but that is what the Republicans want to do,” said Rep. Engel.  “They cling to the wrong-headed views of a precious few dissenters in the face of mountains of evidence saying that something must be done.  Once again, this is bad governance from the Majority who continue to re-fight debates from the past rather than looking to bring our nation forward in the future.”

Today, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson explained to the House Energy and Commerce Committee the Administration’s policy on climate change and regulation and defended it against attacks from the Majority.  Rep. Engel is a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and Power.

The EPA has protected the American people from the excesses of unregulated industry from the very beginning of the organization.  In the first year alone, EPA’s implementation of the Clean Air Act prevented an estimated 18 million child respiratory illnesses, 850,000 asthma attacks, 674,000 cases of chronic bronchitis, and 205,000 premature deaths.   The monetary value of saving Americans from those harms through implementing the Clean Air Act is projected to reach $2 trillion in 2020 alone.  Over the period from 1990 through 2020, the monetary value to Americans of the Act’s protection is projected to exceed the cost of that protection by a factor of more than 30 to 1.

A peer-reviewed EPA analysis estimates that in 2010 alone, the Clean Air Act prevented over 160,000 premature deaths, 130,000 cases of heart disease, 1.7 million asthma attacks, 86,000 hospital admissions, and millions of respiratory illnesses. 

Bronx County has some of the highest rates of asthma in the United States. Rates of death from asthma in the Bronx are about three times higher than the national average. Hospitalization rates are about five times higher.  In addition, crippling the EPA’s enforcement of the Clean Air Act would only make it more difficult for communities in Westchester and Rockland Counties monitor the air quality along the New York State Thruway corridor.  There are over 2000 children, according to 2008 numbers, in the three counties currently suffering from asthma.

“Again we are not addressing job creation.  The GOP claims that EPA regulations hurts business, claims which come from the millionaire executives who would ruin our environment to line their pockets.  That’s what they did in the past, and it demonstrates the great need for EPA regulation.  Perhaps lessons from the BP oil spill, which resulted from a weakened federal check system, have already been forgotten. 

“If we pursued controlling climate change in full force, we could create brand new industries in America and allow our future to be marked by leadership in the next wave of energy.  We could create thousands of new jobs by advancing the Open Fuel Standard Act – which I wrote and previously introduced – which would make alternative energy options standard in new vehicles.  Green jobs would put thousands back to work, and remove the influence of oil-producing nations on our national security and foreign policy.

“However, this would require forward thinking from the Majority, and not a tired rerun of their denials of climate change and resentment over having the EPA telling industry when they have gone too far.  We have important issues we need to be addressing and I think it is offensive to be wasting the American people’s time in rehashing Republican talking points rather than solving the serious issues we were hired to solve,” added Rep. Engel.

His remarks from the hearing could be viewed here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlU_tODS3J0

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