Today, the Environmental Protection Agency announced its intention to repeal the Endangerment Finding, a long-standing regulation that protects clean air. The American Thoracic Society President Raed Dweik, MD, ATSF, issued the following statement in response:
The US Environmental Protection Agency’s EPA proposal to rescind the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions Endangerment Finding goes against the EPA’s mission. The negative consequences of the action announced today by the EPA will be felt for generations.
The proposal dismisses conclusive scientific evidence that rising global temperatures are driven by human-caused GHG emissions.
These emissions also affect the many thousands of people living with respiratory diseases, whose conditions will worsen. We urge the EPA to continue to regulate carbon dioxide and methane emissions along with other pollutants, as directed in the US Clean Air Act.
The proposal will halt the current effective steps being taken to reduce US GHG emissions. If left unchallenged, the rise in natural disasters and reduction in the health and welfare of Americans will become the tragic reality going forward. Our ability to cope with the human health risks of climate change will be increasingly hindered, and our children and grandchildren will pay for this proposal with their health and wellbeing.
Source: ATS
