U.S. Chamber Comments on EPA’s Failure to Reconsider Endangerment Finding

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Robin Conrad, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber’s National Chamber Litigation Center, today issued the following statement on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) denial of the Chamber’s petition to reconsider triggering the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions:

“The U.S. Chamber, policymakers, numerous trade groups, state governments, and businesses throughout the country have collectively raised strong concerns about the significant negative impact EPA’s endangerment finding will have on jobs and local economies.

“We are deeply disappointed with the EPA’s failure to reconsider its flawed decision to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. We intend to appeal the ruling.

“The Chamber’s petition challenged the wisdom of regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, which simply was never intended to regulate something as complex as the problem of climate change. Our petition never claimed that “climate science cannot be trusted,” as the EPA misleadingly claims in its release. In fact, the Chamber’s petition for reconsideration was based on the EPA’s own admission that regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act would result in an “absurd” overregulation of the entire economy.

“The Chamber supports efforts to address climate change that allow our economy to grow, increase the nation’s energy security and improve our environment. We continue to call for Congress to work through the legislative process, rather than having EPA misapply environmental statutes like the Clean Air Act which was not created to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.”

NCLC is the public policy law firm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that advocates fair treatment of business in the courts and before regulatory agencies.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.

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