Washington, DC – In response to the announcements of President Elect Trump nominating Rep. Tom Price for Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Elaine Chao for Secretary of Transportation, LCV Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld issued the following statement:

“Trump’s administration is looking more and more like a who’s who of climate deniers and Big Polluter allies. Both nominations announced today – Rep. Tom Price for Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Elaine Chao for Secretary of Transportation – are an indication that the Trump administration will take its cues from corporate special interests, not by looking at what’s best for the American people.

“It is deeply disturbing that Rep. Tom Price has been nominated for Secretary of Health and Human Services. His outright denial of the scientific reality of climate change and opposition to the Clean Power Plan and clean water protections – which have numerous public health benefits – is a huge risk for the health of our families. Rep. Price has an atrocious 5 percent lifetime score on LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard.

“If Elaine Chao is put in charge of the Department of Transportation, it looks like Big Polluters will get to write their own rules of the road. At a conservative think tank, she opposed government action on climate change, and backed Big Polluters like Massey Energy when she led the Department of Labor under President George W. Bush – even overseeing a slap-on-the-wrist fine when they caused a coal slurry spill in Kentucky larger than the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Elaine Chao would not just take the brakes off the fossil fuel industry, she’d hit the accelerator.”

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