WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its final rule to drastically expand ground-level ozone standards:
Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its final rule to drastically expand ground-level ozone standards:
“Only in Obama’s far-left world, where the EPA mandates are dictated by special-interest groups, would an agency tighten ozone regulations when air pollution is dramatically decreasing. Today’s announcement provides further evidence that the Obama Administration is hell bent on appeasing billionaire environmental activists like Tom Steyer at any cost--even if that cost results in one of the most expensive regulations ever and crushes our stagnant economy, killing tens of thousands of jobs.
“It’s shameful that EPA Administrator McCarthy ignored the advice of physicians throughout the country and ‘made a judgment call’ to move forward with this extremely costly, burdensome and misguided regulation. Hard-working Arizona families can’t afford billion dollar regulations imposed by D.C. bureaucrats on a whim that aren’t grounded in sound science. Congress should immediately reject this new regulation that will dramatically harm American manufacturing and our global competitiveness, resulting in more U.S. jobs being displaced overseas.”
Background
Ozone levels were already dramatically reduced in 2008. While many communities were making progress towards meeting the 2008 mandates, they still have a long ways to go. The new unrealistic ozone standards being imposed by the EPA reduce the ground-level ozone standard to 70 parts per billion and exacerbate these challenges.
“The new rules could affect job growth in nearly one-third of the nation's 3,000 counties.” said Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute. “That's up from 217 counties affected at the current ozone standard.
Congressman Gosar has been relentlessly fighting this proposed regulation and is an original cosponsor of several pieces of legislation that aim to block this new regulation including H.R. 1327, the Ozone Regulatory Delay and Extension of Assessment Length (ORDEAL) Act and H.R. 1388, the CASE Act
On June 17, 2015, Congressman Gosar and 21 colleagues who are members of the Doctors Caucus sent a letter to EPA Administrator McCarthy claiming that “the proposal’s harm outweighs its claimed benefits” and that the “EPA’s proposal will severely impact low income families.”
Congressman Gosar also sent a bipartisan letter to EPA Administrator McCarthy on May 14, 2015 that was signed by 25 of his colleagues in the House calling for the proposed rule to be withdrawn.
Having clean air and water for all Americans is a top priority for businesses, manufactures and energy providers around the country. We know this to be true because these same businesses have dramatically reduced their air pollution over the past 10 years. The EPA even admits that air pollution levels over the past 10 years have plummeted and continue to decrease despite increases in population, manufacturing and the number of cars on the road.
