Press Releases

LCV: Mercury Rollback Is Worse Than a Lump of Coal

Dec 28, 2018

Alyssa Roberts, 202-454-4573, aroberts@lcv.org

Washington, D.C. – The League of Conservation Voters released the following statement on Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s new rollback of Mercury Air Toxics Standards from Vice President for Government Affairs Sara Chieffo:

“You can thank EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler for sending our kids a huge lump of coal this holiday season — it is not in their stockings but in the air they breathe and the seafood they eat. In 2011, the EPA finalized a long overdue and widely heralded step to protect the health of our children, pregnant mothers and other vulnerable populations from dangerous mercury pollution. These protections have been incredibly successful in reducing this potent neurotoxin. It is clear Wheeler is only listening to coal barons, not the dire warnings from his own agency that this move could cause over 11,000 premature deaths. Or even the industry who has already invested in successfully complying.

“When it comes to sabotaging protections for our communities, Andrew Wheeler is quickly catching up to Scott Pruitt’s poisonous legacy.”