TAMPA, Fla. – Today, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL-14) blasted the Trump Administration’s proposal to repeal the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) “Endangerment Finding” that serves as an essential public health safeguard and allows regulation of greenhouse gases and dangerous climate pollution:

“American families and businesses deserve better than the higher cost of living and corruption of the Trump Administration and colluding polluters. Repeal of EPA’s ‘Endangerment Finding’ grants free rein to polluters without regard to increasingly expensive and deadly heat waves, floods and droughts, and other extreme weather. Dirty air and higher health care costs and energy bills will be the result. Americans will pay more for property and flood insurance while billionaires and powerful polluters pocket massive profits.

“For Floridians, the stakes could not be higher. After last year’s brutal hurricane season – and while our communities face record-breaking heat, floods and stronger storms – policymakers should be focused on reducing costs and reducing pollution. Yet, Trump, EPA Administrator Zeldin and polluters do not care about the harm to everyday Americans. To them, polluter profits come first, and hardworking Americans last. Again, the Trump Administration is abandoning average Americans in favor of billionaires, wealthy corporations and political expediency.”

The “Endangerment Finding” is based on the fact that greenhouse gas pollution is fueling a dangerously heating climate, which harms our health, our families, our communities and our wallets. Repealing it would allow Big Oil and Gas companies to pollute without limits and eliminate safeguards that reduce harmful pollution and improve air quality. With this action, Republicans are making our kids sicker, our air dirtier, and our communities more vulnerable to extreme weather – at the same time, they’re ripping health care away from 15 million Americans and making the cost of care more expensive for millions more.