NRDC Blasts Bush Administration's Rollback of Clean Air Rules

Statement from John Walke, Director of NRDC's Clean Air Program

WASHINGTON, DC (June 13, 2002) -- "Today's long-dreaded rollback of federal clean air protections means that, under the Bush administration, EPA has become the Environmental Pollution Agency. The White House has fulfilled its promise to industry, abandoning critical provisions of the Clean Air Act in favor of sweeping regulatory changes that will let some of the nation's worst polluters increase their emissions at the expense of air quality and human health. EPA's rule changes will also undermine the administration's ongoing enforcement cases against dirty power plants and other major violators of clean air laws. So instead of cracking down on violators, the administration will let polluters off the hook."

The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, non-profit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has more than 500,000 members nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Related NRDC Pages

March 20, 2002, EPA Documents Reveal Plan to Weaken Air Quality Protections