March 27, 2020
Contact: Ben Schneider, bschneider@edf.org, 202-572-3279

In response to the Trump Administration’s decision to suspend enforcement of key environmental and public health protections in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Defend Our Future project director Matt Oberhoffner issued the following statement:

With our country and the world facing an unprecedented public health crisis, why is Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency – an agency tasked with protecting all human health – loosening public health protections? This decision could lead to more pollution and worse quality, which will jeopardize human lives.

The timing of this decision is particularly galling. The coronavirus disproportionately impacts those that are sick and vulnerable. And air pollution exposure is known to make people, regardless of their personal health, more likely to contract viruses. It is the precise time we need agencies like EPA to do their job. Suspending their ability to protect human health at this time is shocking, outrageous and unacceptable.

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