Washington, D.C. – Today, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet led 20 Senate Democrats in introducing a new version of the Clean Air, Healthy Kids Act to repeal President Trump’s anti-climate agenda.
“Since the day he stepped foot in the Oval Office, President Trump has attacked science, ignored facts, and intentionally undermined key initiatives to fight climate change,” said Bennet. “The Clean Air, Healthy Kids Act repeals Trump’s most egregious anti-climate change regulations and maintains current safeguards to combat the climate crisis and grow American jobs.”
First introduced in the last Congress, the Clean Air, Healthy Kids Act would block federal agencies from implementing the disastrous actions outlined in President Trump’s 2017 Executive Order 13783 that rescinded President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, repeal agency actions taken on climate change to implement the executive order, and put back in place the Obama Administration’s Climate Action Plan and the associated climate change regulations and policies. The legislation includes several key updates, including repealing the:
- Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Affordable Clean Energy Rule (rollback of the Clean Power Plan);
- EPA and Bureau of Land Management’s Methane Standards for the Oil and Gas Industry Rollback;
- EPA’s SAFE Rule (rollback of the Fuel Economy Standards) and rescinds the EPA’s ability to revoke the Clean Air Act waiver that has been granted to California to enforce emissions standards indefinitely;
- Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency standards for appliances, including light bulbs; and
- EPA’s Methane Emission Limits for Landfills.
The introduction of the Clean Air, Healthy Kids Act comes on the heels of today’s announcement that the EPA will soon launch a formal effort to revoke California’s Clean Air Act waiver, as well as yesterday’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to dismiss legal challenges to the Clean Power Plan.
The Clean Air, Healthy Kids Act was introduced to restore and reinforce our laws and policies that have been developed to protect our climate, our environment, and our communities. It calls out the ways this administration has abused the executive order and failed to faithfully implement our existing laws and policies to prop up the unsustainable and harmful extractive practices that are robbing us of a healthy and sustainable future. This bill would redress several of the unfounded proposals and actions taken by this administration that have an especially acute impact on the air our children breathe, and which were contrary to the law and the facts at the inception.
The Clean Air, Healthy Kids Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).
“President Trump’s dangerous rollbacks of clean air and climate protections grow worse every day. And American families are paying for these polluter giveaways with their health, lives and livelihood. That’s wrong. All senators should fight these harmful rollbacks and instead back the Clean Air, Healthy Kids Act,” said David Doniger, Senior Strategic Director, Climate and Clean Energy Program of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“Senator Bennet fully understands the lasting harm that President Trump’s environmental rollbacks are causing across the country,” said Elizabeth Gore, Environmental Defense Fund Senior Vice President, Political Affairs. “The Trump Administration’s unpopular actions are putting our health and economy at risk, while exacerbating the climate crisis. We applaud this legislation to reverse course, fight climate change, and pushback against the damaging policies that are being promoted by this White House.”
“President Trump’s rollbacks of protections for our environment and our communities’ health and wellbeing are unprecedented, unpopular, and likely unlawful. We applaud Sen. Bennet for advancing this legislation to reinstate protections to safeguard our children’s health and get us back on track to tackle the climate crisis,” said Tiernan Sittenfel, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs of the League of Conservation Voters.
“As the current administration continues to roll back pollution safeguards that protect our children, Senator Bennet’s Clean Air, Healthy Kids Act fights back. The state of Colorado is at the forefront of implementing clean air policies, including first-in-the-nation methane regulations. Despite these efforts, our air quality is getting worse. Meanwhile, federal rollbacks — including the repeal of the Clean Power Plan, national methane standards, and fuel economy standards — could harm our children’s health, while making the climate crisis worse. Now is not the time to protect corporate profits over our children’s future. Moms support the Clean Air, Healthy Kids Act, and we thank Senator Bennet for his leadership,” said Christine Berg, Colorado Field Consultant, Moms Clean Air Force.
The bill text is available HERE.