Washington, D.C. – Public Interest and environmental groups filed a petition with the Environmental Protection Agency today urging the agency to reconsider its latest attempt to delay the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program – the source of vitally important information about the air pollution that causes climate change and makes life less healthy, more dangerous and more expensive for all Americans.
The Environmental Integrity Project, Environmental Defense Fund, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), Sierra Club, Earthworks, and Clean Air Task Force filed the petition, which points out that the Trump EPA has “improperly extended the reporting deadline” for companies to submit their climate emissions.
EIP and EDF also filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit challenging the deadline extension.
Background
For well over a decade, EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program has been a vital source of public information about climate pollution from some of the largest sources nationwide. The program has provided vital information that makes it possible to protect people from climate change and all its ensuing damages – from worsening floods, fires and heat waves to rising insurance costs.
Last year, Trump EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin shut down the program’s reporting portal for over a month without explanation and then unlawfully tried to delay the deadlines for companies to report their climate pollution. The Trump administration also refused to release the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory – an annual accounting of pollution that uses Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program data. EDF filed a lawsuit challenging the delay, obtained the Greenhouse Gas Greenhouse Gas Inventory through the Freedom of Information Act, and made it publicly available on its own website.
Then in September, the Trump EPA proposed getting rid of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program altogether, a move that dozens of groups, business interests and state vigorously opposed. EIP was able to obtain the reported data from last year, which it recently published in a comprehensive analysis.
The agency has now issued another unlawful deadline extension for the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. Today the groups submitted their administrative petition urging EPA to reconsider its action to delay the program, and EDF and EIP also challenged that action in court.
Quotes from the groups that submitted the petition:
“We were disappointed to see EPA scuttle basic transparency about air pollution, which should be central to the Agency’s mission. We’ll do whatever we can to restore some common sense and ensure that the public has access to this information.” – Abel Russ, Acting Director of Law and Policy, Environmental Integrity Project
“The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is fundamental for our nation’s ability to effectively address climate change. It provides transparent, reliable and comprehensive data about climate pollution from the largest sources and is used broadly by companies, policymakers, and people in communities across the country. Blocking or eliminating information about pollution will not make climate change go away – it will only make it more expensive and difficult to deal with.” – Edwin LaMair, Senior Attorney for Environmental Defense Fund
“The Trump EPA’s decision to delay the deadline for companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions is a blatant attempt to conceal this important information from the public – information that Congress mandated EPA to collect and disclose. This critical emissions data is essential for policymakers, American manufacturers, and the public. We will not stand by as this administration undermines the public’s right to information that impacts their health and wellbeing.” – Glenda Valdez, Climate Legal Fellow, NRDC
Media Contact:
Tom Pelton, EIP, 443-510-2574, tpelton@environmentalintegrity.org
Sharyn Stein, EDF, 202-905-5718, sstein@edf.org
The Environmental Integrity Project is America’s environmental watchdog. We hold polluters and governments accountable to protect public health and the environment.
