BALTIMORE — U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, issued the following statement in response to the announcement by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt that the agency would be rescinding the Clean Power Plan rule.

“The Trump Administration continues to define itself not by any positive accomplishments but by its singular focus on derailing any policies from the Obama Administration that were generating economic activity and improving public health. The administration’s latest short-sighted effort on behalf of special interests, rolling back the Clean Power Plan, will undercut the progress states have made to reduce pollution and increase growth in the renewable energy sector, which according to DOE employs five times more American workers than the fossil fuel industry in the U.S. The Clean Power Plan would have prevented thousands of premature deaths, asthma attacks in children, and heart attacks in adults. The EPA of a bygone era calculated that students and employees will miss 300,000 days of school and work. This represents the wrong direction for our country. This latest action by the Trump Administration will compromise America’s energy security interests and further shred our leadership role on addressing climate change.

“Some may be celebrating today, but make no mistake, all of us who care about the shared future on this planet will be hard at work looking for ways to act on climate. An overwhelming majority of the scientific community tells us climate change is real and the Department of Defense has acknowledged the security risk that climate change creates for the United States. State, local, and business leaders understand the risks to U.S. security, safety and economic growth, which is why, despite the ignorance of science and negative leadership from this administration, public- and private-sector leaders across the country will continue to take important steps to combat climate change.

“This latest regressive step by the Trump Administration is outright dangerous. It is shameful that our local, state and business leaders no longer have strong partners in the White House to ensure the security and health of our planet.”

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