When the Trump administration announced on Monday that the Environmental Protection Agency was rolling back Biden-era limits on climate pollution from coal and gas-fired power plants – and proposing to eliminate nearly all remaining limits on greenhouse gas emissions from such facilities – the move drew what’s come to represent the typical responses from across Washington in today’s polarized climate.
Many Republicans and industry groups praised the decision, suggesting it would boost energy production and lower costs. Democrats and environmental groups blasted it, arguing officials were selling out Americans’ health and the long-term well-being of the planet.
But even some former Republican officials are speaking out against the decision – and the EPA’s broader deregulatory push.
“It's unconscionable,” Christine Todd Whitman, who served as EPA Administrator to President George W. Bush from 2001-2003, said of the EPA’s action. “I mean, what they're doing is really hurting human health, and the impact is particularly strong on the elderly and on children who metabolize differently. And we're putting their futures in danger, there's just no question about it, I do not understand this.”
Todd Whitman’s comments, part of an interview with Scripps News’ “Catch Me Up” with Jon Lieberman set to air Friday evening, come as the Trump administration has eliminated more than 100 EPA rules and regulations across air, water, drilling and toxic substances during President Donald Trump’s second term.
“EPA has abandoned its core mission,” Todd Whitman argued. “I mean, [Lee] Zeldin said, [the] EPA administrator said not very long ago that when considering regulations they were no longer going to consider human health, the impact on human health for regulation, [and instead consider] only the bottom line of an industry.”
“EPA's sole mission is to protect human health and the environment,” she concluded. “And now they're saying human health doesn't matter, it's only the economics.”
Todd Whitman was referencing comments made in federal rulemaking documents earlier this year, in which officials announced they were scrapping EPA’s longstanding practice of assigning a dollar value to certain health and climate benefits when evaluating regulations, and instead only considering the financial impacts on industry.
In a lengthy statement to Scripps News, an EPA spokesperson who declined to provide their name disputed Todd Whitman’s characterization. “In every action the Trump EPA has taken we have followed the same basic principles: does it follow the law and does it fulfill our core mission,” the statement read. “Furthermore, when making decisions Administrator Zeldin consults his full EPA team, including career staff, scientists, and his political leadership.”
The spokesperson went on to argue, “If you eliminated all Greenhouse Gases from power plants tomorrow, there would be no material impact on global climate change, much less public health,” and noted that the agency continues to regulate some power plant pollutants, including Ozone and certain fine particulates.
“The Trump EPA has accomplished amazing achievements for the American people, including delivering over $1.3 trillion in deregulatory savings—all while fiercely protecting human health and the environment,” the statement concluded.
Nonetheless, Monday’s rule is already facing a legal challenge, brought by a coalition of environmental and public health groups on Thursday. They’ve asked the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to block the rollback, arguing it violates the Clean Air Act.
“Clean air is a basic human right. Power plant pollution threatens the health of millions of Americans and fuels climate change, worsening extreme heat, poor air quality and other serious health risks,” Dr. Georges Benjamin, CEO of the American Public Health Association, said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “Weakening these life-saving standards would strip away vital protections for all, and especially for children, pregnant people and communities already overburdened by pollution. EPA must maintain strong clean air and climate standards so every community can live a healthy life.”
