Connecticut fights Trump EPA over clean air standards
By Neil Vigdor, CT Post.
Connecticut could sue President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency over its plans to relax clean-air standards for power plants and cars — the latest confrontation between the Democrat-run state and the pro-business president.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy sent a letter Thursday to Trump’s controversial EPA chief, Scott Pruitt, blasting the agency’s preliminary decision to exempt nine states, most of which are in the Rust Belt, from tougher scrutiny of coal-fired power plants. Those states, the governor wrote, should be held accountable for their adverse impact on the air quality in the Northeast.
Connecticut leaders further fear that Trump’s administration, under pressure from U.S. automakers, will unwind Obama-era fuel efficiency standards and caps on tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide.
“Obviously, this is a guy who was a sellout to fossil fuels to begin with and doesn’t mind polluting Connecticut’s air with (emissions) from Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania,” Malloy told Hearst Connecticut Media, referring to Pruitt.
An EPA spokesperson declined to comment. Hearst also reached out to the White House for a response.