Wyden, Colleagues Sound Alarm on EPA’s Plot to Rollback Decades of Scientific Findings on Greenhouse Gases
“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, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today led 12 Senate Democrats 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 senators 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:
- What new scientific evidence has the EPA found that justifies the reversal of the endangerment finding?
- What new evidence does the EPA have that suggests reversing the endangerment finding would better protect the health and welfare of Americans and the environment, as is the EPA’s mission?
- How does the EPA plan to address the legal precedent set by the Supreme Court, particularly when courts have repeatedly upheld the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases based on the endangerment finding?
- Given that the endangerment finding has been repeatedly challenged by industry groups, fossil fuel companies, and climate change deniers over the years, do you believe that political or economic pressure is influencing your decision to revisit the finding, rather than an objective evaluation of the scientific facts?
- How do you plan to ensure that the EPA’s decision-making process remains rooted in scientific integrity?
Senator Wyden was joined by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., as well as Senators Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawai’i, Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Patty Murray, D-Wash., Brian Schatz, D-Hawai’i, Tina Smith, D-Minn., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Peter Welch, D-Vt., Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Edward J. Markey, D-Mass.
The text of the letter is here.
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