Anti-environmentalist Pruitt Hit by Ninth Circuit; NY AG Schneiderman Suit in the Works

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore, Creative Commons 3.0

EPA Chief Scott Pruitt, who appears to be in bed with the fossil fuel industry as well as an admitted climate denier, is facing a scrupulous and progressive judiciary and state attorneys general, who are willing to fight him and the Trump Administration to protect our clean air and water supply.

Ninth Circuit Win: More Stringent Lead Paint Rules

On December 27th, the progressive 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco delivered a much-needed environmental victory on behalf of children affected by dangerous lead levels.

The 3-judge Appellate panel ordered the EPA to draft more stringent lead contamination rules in people’s homes within 90 days, and issue final regulations no more than a year later, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.

Northeast States Sue EPA over Midwest Air Pollution in Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia

Meanwhile, a significant suit filed by New York and seven other states challenges a Trump Administration decision to allow nine Northeastern, “upwind” states to “escape tighter smog pollution controls,” Reuters reports.

The states’ coalition, led by New York’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to overturn the EPA’s decision not to add the nine upwind states to the congressionally created “Ozone Transport Region,” that requires stricter pollution controls.

The AG’s in: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, joined New York in filing suit demanding Northeastern states be protected from Midwestern smog.

“Millions of New Yorkers are breathing unhealthy air as smog pollution continues to pour in from other states, Schneiderman said.

The EPA’s own studies show that pollution from upwind states “substantially adds to harmful levels of smog in New York.”