Statement of EDF President Fred Krupp

December 27, 2012
Sharyn Stein, 202-572-3396, sstein@edf.org

“It has been an honor to work with Lisa Jackson. During her tenure as EPA Administrator, America has taken strides toward cleaner air, a smaller carbon footprint and a healthier environment.

“Under Administrator Jackson’s leadership, EPA established the first-ever national standards for mercury and other toxic air pollution from America’s power plants, and updated our public health protections to address harmful levels of sulfur dioxide and fine particle pollution in the air we breathe. With the Department of Transportation, EPA set historic new fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards for our cars and trucks that will save American families money at the gas pump and reduce our dependence on imported oil. EPA also took the first steps towards addressing the powerful climate pollutant methane, which hopefully will soon lead to comprehensive clean air safeguards and rigorous, accurate disclosure of methane emissions by the oil and gas industry.

“Most importantly, EPA helped set a path for us to begin to meaningfully fight climate change by completing the Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding, and then started us down the path towards addressing greenhouse gases by proposing carbon pollution standards for new power plants.

“Now we should all look to the future, and build on Administrator Jackson’s legacy by continuing to create sensible, well-designed programs to reduce pollution, focusing on carbon pollution from power plants.”

                                        — Fred Krupp, President of Environmental Defense Fund

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